Love Is Confusing
by Hakajin
Summary: Ash is finally reunited with Misty! After that, it's just one misunderstanding after another. With all this confusion, how will they ever get it figured out?
1. Sleepless in Kanto

Love Is Confusing

_This is the first chapter of my first fanfic, so it's not all that great. It's short. It's generic. But I promise, it gets better from here. Please just give it a chance. I already have the first five chapters posted at if you can't wait to see what happens next(and I know you can't!) Oh, and contrary to popular belief, I don't own Pokemon. Sorry to disappoint._

Chapter 1

Sleeples in Kanto

Ash smiled. The sky was blue, the day was warm, and a light breeze swayed the tall grass. Everything felt great! He was still disappointed about coming in 4th in the Hoenn League, but he was really looking forward to seeing Misty. How long had it been since he had last seen her? Two, three months? It seemed like forever. But it wouldn't be long now. Now he, Brock, May, and Max were en route to Cerulean City, Misty's hometown. Ash's train of thought was interrupted by May, who was trailing behind Ash and Brock with her brother Max.

"How much further? I'm tired!" She complained.

"Me too!" "Pika!"

Max and Pikachu chimed in.

"It _is _getting late," replied Brock. "Now would probably be a good time to stop and set up camp." Ash turned suddenly and looked at Brock.

"We can't stop now!" He said. "We're almost there!"

"How far is 'almost?'" May asked. Brock took out the map and studied it for a moment.

"I'd say about three or four hours."

"I can't go that far! I don't care how desperate you are to see your girlfriend!" May yelled. Ash sweat-dropped. When May said no, she meant no. There was no way to convince her otherwise. It reminded him a little of Misty. He sighed.

"Fine," Ash said. "I guess I could use a little rest." May and Max both cheered. "And she's NOT my girlfriend!" he added. But he could feel his face turning red. May just smiled.

"Oh yeah," she said. "I forgot."

Why was everyone always teasing him about that? Sure, he talked about Misty a lot, but she was his friend. Of course he missed her. Why did that automatically make her his girlfriend?! And even before Misty left, people were constantly picking on them. Brock, Tracey, Nurse Joy, Rudy, Danny, Team Rocket... the list went on and on. It was ridiculous. Him and Misty! Ha! "Besides," Ash thought, "there's no way she'd ever like me."

That night, Ash lay awake and looked at the stars. He was thinking of Misty again. It was easy enough to forget during the day, but at night, when there was nothing to occupy his mind, his thoughts always turned to her. He remembered how she would always help him when he was in trouble and cheer him on in all of his battles. He couldn't have asked for a better friend. And then Ash would think about the day she left. He had never seen Misty so sad. It really hurt him to see her like that. He had wanted to comfort her, but had no idea what to say. And what exactly had she meant by giving him her handkerchief? Wasn't that usually what a girl did when she liked you? But this was Misty. It couldn't be that. Could it? Sometimes Ash thought maybe he _did_ like her. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like if she _were _his girlfriend. What would it be like to hold her hand, to smile at her, to . . .? But he couldn't imagine it. These thoughts did not mean anything. People were always teasing him about it, so it was only natural to be a little curious. "I wonder what she's doing right now?" Ash thought.

♥♥♥♥♥

Not far away, in Cerulean City, Misty couldn't sleep either. She was too excited. Excited because Ash was going to be there soon. She had missed him so much. It had seemed as if she were never going to see him again. But within the next few days, he would be there, and things would be as they were supposed to be. Misty looked at her digital clock. "11:53 P.M." it read. "I'm never gonna get to sleep like this!" she thought. She slipped out of bed, changed into her swimsuit, and walked down to the gym's pool hoping that swimming a few laps would make her tired.

The dive into the cold water sent a shiver down her spine. As she swam, Misty thought about the events of the past few months. The memory of leaving Ash still saddened her, even if she was about to see him. It was even more painful to remember losing Togepi, because she knew she would never see her baby Pokemon again. Misty had been planning on resuming her travels with Ash that day, but losing Togepi had been hard. She had needed time alone to heal, and she didn't want Ash to see her cry. Now Misty wondered if that had been a mistake. It had been such a long time since she had seen Ash, and she was a little anxious. She was afraid that things would be different. That she and Ash had drifted apart. And what of that girl he was traveling with, May? How did he feel about her? May was a sweet girl, and Misty liked her, but she was jealous all the same. She felt as if Ash didn't need her anymore. But she didn't want to think about it. Misty swam faster, pushing her body harder to push the thoughts out of her mind.

Misty was exhausted when she got back to her room. She guessed that she had swum for about an hour. She glanced at the clock. 3:12 A.M. "Three hours?!" she thought. "It didn't seem like long at all!" Misty changed back into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She gave in to the exhaustion and let the soft, warm covers lull her into a deep sleep.


	2. Reunion

Chapter 2

Reunion

_I don't think this chapter is gonna be as good as the last one_. _I've added a lot more description, and the length is better, but I didn't get to work with inner thought as much. And I really hope I didn't use too much dialogue. But I hope you enjoy it despite its short-comings. Thank-you for reading!_

Ash was the first one awake that morning. It was still dawn. The air was chilly, and the grass was wet with dew. Ash lay still and waited for the others to wake up. It was taking way too long. He was ready to get going again. The faster they started out, the sooner they would get to Misty's home.

After what seemed like hours, someone else stirred. It was Brock. He yawned and stretched before getting out of his sleeping bag and putting his gray vest over his orange shirt. He asked Ash to go look for some firewood for cooking breakfast. It was a chore, but Ash was glad for the excuse to get up. Pikachu was still asleep, so he was very quiet so as not to disturb the little Pokemon. Ash pulled on his blue jacket and his red cap before setting off.

There had been nothing but meadows for miles, so there wasn't much wood to be found. But Ash wasn't really thinking about firewood. Instead he was thinking about how happy he would be to when he was reunited with Misty. He couldn't wait to get back on the road. Ash finally found a few shrubs and took the wood he needed from them. May, Max, and Pikachu were up by the time he returned. He said good-morning to them and sat down while Brock cooked breakfast.

Ash inspected what he was making. Bacon, eggs, and pancakes. It smelled delicious, but Ash wasn't hungry. Not today. He was too excited. He wolfed down what little he did eat and gave the rest to Pikachu. May had almost finished cleaning her plate. "Finally!" Ash thought.

"Can I have seconds?" May asked.

Brock responded by spooning out another portion of food onto her plate. Ash let out an exaggerated sigh.

"Can you please hurry up?!" he whined.

"Ash, chill! We've got all day!" Said May angrily.

Ash, defeated, let out another sigh.

"Why are you in such a hurry Ash?" Asked Max. "You hardly even ate. Are you feeling ok?"

Brock broke in, trying to spare Ash the embarrassment of another comment about his "girlfriend" from May.

"Max," he said "I saw a spring a mile or two back. Would you mind taking our water bottles and refilling them?"

"Sure." said Max.

He collected everyone's bottles and departed. He returned twenty-five minutes later, and the group was on their way. "That took _forever_!" Ash thought to himself.

♥♥♥♥♥

Misty's sister Daisy was greeted by Ash and his friends when she answered the door that afternoon. She already knew Ash and Brock, and she guessed that the other two must be May and Max. Misty had told her and her other sisters, Violet and Lily, about when she had met them a couple of months before.

"Hi!" She said. "How have you been doing?"

"Hi Daisy. We're–"

But Brock interrupted before Ash could even finish his sentence.

"Oh my beautiful Daisy, Now that I am with you, I can truly say that I am doing wonderful! Being in your glorious presence has made me the happiest man on Earth!" Everyone sweat-dropped at Brock's "performance", and Daisy blushed.

"Um... Nice to see you again too, Brock."

"Brock, we're here to see Misty." Max said, grabbing Brock's ear.

Daisy was relieved to be free of her suitor.

"Right. Let me go get her." She said.

Daisy found Misty in her bed, still asleep.

"Misty, get up, your friends are here." She yelled.

Misty, startled, rolled over and fell out of bed.

"What time is it? Why didn't you get me up sooner?!" She groaned.

"I tried, but you were like, totally out of it. What did you _do_ yesterday to make yourself so tired?"

Misty stood up. She was achy all over from swimming the night before.

"Nothing." She lied. " I just didn't sleep much last night.."

Daisy left, and Misty changed hurriedly.

"What to wear, what to wear?" She muttered to herself.

She finally put on her sleeveless yellow hoodie and her jean shorts. Then she quickly pulled her red hair into its familiar side ponytail.

Downstairs, everyone could hear Misty crashing around in her hurry to get dressed. They all sweat-dropped when she appeared at the door.

"Hi guys!" She said cheerfully. "Long time no see!"

Each of her friends greeted her in turn. She looked them over as they spoke.

Ash looked exactly the same as always, his messy black hair hidden under his cap. She smiled at his sloppiness.

May wore a red top and white shorts, and finished off her look by pulling her brown hair back with a red bandana. She looked cute. "_Too_ cute." Misty thought.

Brock was smiling, cheerful as ever despite his recent rejection by Daisy. It never took Brock long to recover from these little tragedies.

"Hey Misty, remember me?" Said a small voice.

"Of course I remember you, Max! It's nice to see you again." Replied Misty. She laughed to herself. Even though Max was very smart, he was still an eight year old at heart, and couldn't stand to be left out by the "older kids".

He removed his glasses and polished them with his green shirt.

"Nice seeing you again, too." He said, replacing his glasses. Then he got to what he really wanted to say. "Can you show us your Pokemon?"

His enthusiasm reminded Misty somewhat of Ash.

"Sure!" She said while leading the group inside the gym. "Ash told me that you want to be a Pokemon Master someday. I'm sure you'll make it!"

Max's cheeks turned red as he thanked Misty for the compliment.

They walked down a long hall covered in blue tile. On the walls were windows that looked out into an underwater habitat. May jumped a little in surprise as a Gyarados swam past. Ash, Brock, and Max were fascinated by the creature, but May hung back a little.

"How can you stand those things? They scare me!" She exclaimed.

"I used to be too," said Misty "but finally I was able to overcome my fear and I befriended this Gyarados."

"I could never train a Gyarados!"

Ash laughed. "You've come a long way though. You used to not like Pokemon at all, but you've been doing a good job training them, and you've even won a few contests."

May grinned. "Yeah, it was hard at first, but I've really become close to all of my Pokemon. But I'm still afraid of Gyarados."

Misty felt a pang of jealousy. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help feeling as if she had been excluded from the conversation. She needed a subject change.

"Look, there's my Luvdisc! I just caught it recently, so not even Ash and Brock have seen it."

Everyone looked where Misty was pointing to see a cute little fish swim past. It was pink and looked sort of like a heart.

"Wow, Misty, that's so cool!" Ash said as he took out his Pokedex. "Luvdisc:" it recited, "the rendezvous Pokemon. Luvdisc's heart-shaped body is a symbol of love and romance. It is said that any couple meeting this Pokemon is promised a loving relationship that never ends."

Misty was glad to have Ash's attention once again, and the incident was soon forgotten.

Later that day, after lunch, Ash and the others told Misty everything they could remember about their adventures in Hoenn.

Ash began with his first gym battle in Rustborough against Roxanne. It had been a tough match, but Pikachu came through in the end. He told about how he had caught a grass-type Pokemon, Treeko, and spoke of countless battles with Team rocket. Ash ended his story with his loss in the Hoenn league. Misty had seen this last part on TV, but she was happy to hear it from Ash's point of view. She had felt so bad for him when she saw his Torkoal fall against the opponent Blaziken, but he accepted the loss gracefully. Misty knew that it had taken a lot of courage. She was so proud of him that day.

He had really matured since she had first met him in Kanto. That was a day Misty would never forget. She remembered every detail of it: the dazed expression on Ash's face when she fished him out of the river, how he had destroyed her bike, how concerned he had been for his injured Pikachu...

"Misty. Hey Misty, are you listening?!" May's voice brought Misty back to Earth.

"Huh? What were you saying?"

"I was going to tell you about some of my Pokemon contests." May replied.

Misty listened intently while May told about how nervous she had been in her first contest, and how disappointed she had been when she and Beautifly lost. Then she talked about her friend and contest rival, Drew. May's face went pink as she talked, and Misty hoped that it meant what she thought it meant. If May liked Drew, then Misty would have no reason to be jealous anymore. May suddenly became silent, and Misty realized that she had been daydreaming again.

"Oh, sorry." She said. "What did you just say?"

May giggled as she proudly took her beauty contest ribbons and began to describe the contests she had won them in. Misty had never been in contest, but she knew that they were no easier than battles, and she was very impressed with May's achievements.

Daisy walked into the room just as May finished telling her story.

"Misty," she started, "some of our Pokemon were injured in my last battle. Do you think you could like, take them to the Pokemon center?"

"Why don't you do it?" Misty snapped.

"I would, but like, I'm already gonna be late for my hair appointment. Come on Misty, don't be selfish."

"But my friends just got here. Can't Violet or Lily do it?"

"They both went into Vermilion City today to do some shopping. Please Misty?" She begged.

"But–"

Brock cut Misty off. "It's ok, we can all go."

Misty was puzzled by his willingness to go, but she relented none the less. Soon, Misty and her friends were on their way to the Cerulean Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy greeted the group as they walked through the door to the Pokemon Center.

Misty told her that her Pokemon were injured and handed over her Pokeballs.

"Don't worry," Nurse Joy said, "I'm sure they'll be good as new with my special treatment!"

Brock was overcome with emotion. "Oh Nurse Joy," he gushed, "your superior beauty is surpassed only by your loving care for Pokemon! And that is surpassed only by my love for you!"

Ash and the others sweat-dropped. "So that's why he was so eager to come." He said.

Nurse Joy laughed nervously as Misty grabbed Brock by the ear.

"How long will it take to treat my Pokemon?" She inquired, totally ignoring Brock's pained expression.

"I'd say about two hours."

"Alright, then we'll be back to pick them up then. Thank-you!"

"Hey guys, while we're waiting, why don't we go to Cerulean Mall? It's right across the street." Misty said when they got outside.

"That's a great idea!" Squealed May.

The guys were less enthusiastic, but Misty and May dragged them across the street to the small community mall. Max noticed a video-game store immediately upon entering.

"Oh, wow, I wonder if they have the latest battle simulation for the Gamestation!"

"Battle simulation?" Questioned Ash.

"Yeah, it's a video-game, but it's just like a real battle! It's really fun."

"I wanna try it!"

The group walked up to the store and looked in the window.

"They have a demo, great!" Ash said.

"What's so great about it?" Said Misty sarcastically. "It's a waste of time to play a video-game when you could be outside having a real battle."

"I agree." Said Brock. "Haven't you out-grown video-games yet, Ash?"

Ash looked towards the cash register where a pretty girl was standing.

"Hey Brock, I bet she likes video-games."

Brock looked at the girl too. "Forget what I said!" he exclaimed. "If that beautiful angel likes it, then it can't be bad! Come on, hurry up!" He said as he pulled Ash and Max inside.

"How immature!" Said May, but she and Misty were glad to be left alone to do their shopping.

Misty led May into an upscale shop called "The PokeConnection". They specialized in clothes that had Pokemon in their patterns.

"I can't really afford anything here, but it's fun to look." Misty said. She pulled out a long white dress covered in pink and blue Azurills and showed it to May. May was about to tell her how cute it was, but she noticed that Misty had suddenly become nervous. She followed Misty's gaze to the cash register where a pretty blonde girl wearing a short pink skirt and white tank top was making a purchase. Misty started looking for a place to hide, but it was too late. She had been seen. The girl payed her bill and walked quickly to where Misty and May were standing.

"Oh, Misty!" She said, "I didn't know you shopped here!"

"Hi Samantha, what are you doing here?" Misty said nervously.

"I was just buying a new dress because my boyfriend, Kyle and I have a date tomorrow night. Hey! I know! Why don't we make it a double date?!" She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. "Oops! Sorry Misty. I forgot– you don't have a boyfriend."

May could see the indignity on Misty's face.

"It's ok, Sam, because it just so happens that I do have a boyfriend."

"Oh, so you can come! We're meeting at that new Chinese restaurant downtown at 7:00. Don't be late!"

"We'll be there." Misty said fiercely.

"See you tomorrow night!" Samantha called back as she left.

"Who was that?" May asked. "Is she your friend?"

"Not exactly," Said Misty, "Samantha and I grew up together, but she's always trying to find ways to put me down. It's been this way ever since we were little."

May nodded. She understood as only another girl could. When boys didn't like each other, they were honest about it. But girls would feign friendship, even though both of them knew it was a lie.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend." May said concernedly.

"I don't." Sighed Misty.

"What are you going to do?!"

A sly smile crossed Misty's face. "Don't worry. I've got a plan."


	3. DoubleDate

Chapter 3

Double Date

_Ok, here goes chapter 3. It finally gets good here. At least, I hope it does. Thanks to everyone for your ratings and reviews. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this!_

Misty tried to listen to what Ash was saying about his gym battle with Flannery, but she was too nervous to pay attention. She had to ask Ash out. On a date. It would be mortifying. But the date wouldn't be for real. As long as she made that clear, there wouldn't be a problem. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. What would he say? Would he laugh at her? Misty had no idea what to say to him. She went through a thousand lines in her head, but nothing sounded quite right. And she was running out of time. She and her friends had just recovered her Pokemon from the Pokemon Center, and they would be back at the gym soon. She knew that if she was going to do this, it had to be as soon as she got home. If she allowed herself time to think about it, she would lose her nerve. She tried to keep her cool, but she was growing more anxious with every step. Ash flashed Misty a concerned look.

"Are you ok, Misty?" He asked.

Misty giggled nervously. Her face felt warm, and she knew that she was blushing. "No, nothing's wrong. Why would anything be wrong?"

"I dunno. You've just been pretty quiet."

"What's wrong with that?" Misty snapped.

"Nothing. Geez, no need to bite my head off!"

Misty was about to make a comment to Ash about his head being too big to bite off, but Brock intervened.

"Drop it guys. You're acting childish." He said sternly.

Misty and Ash turned their faces away from one another and tried their hardest to look insulted. Misty cursed herself for being so stupid. Ash was never going to do what she wanted if she was fighting with him. Fortunately, this argument, like every one before it, dissipated in a short time. Ash resumed talking about his gym battle, and Misty fell silent again. They continued this way until they reached the gym.

At last they arrived. Misty wasn't ready, but it was now or never. She worked up all the courage she could find before speaking.

"Hey Ash, could I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, Misty, what's up?"

May took this as her cue to make herself scarce. She opened the door to the gym and started inside, pulling Max behind her.

"Ow, ow, careful!" He protested.

May ignored him and turned to Brock, who was apparently as clueless as Max.

"Are you coming or not?!"

Brock was confused by all this, but he knew better than to cross May when she was irritated, so he followed her and Max inside the gym.

"So Misty, what did you want to talk about?" Ash asked when they were gone.

Misty took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." She thought.

"I just wanted to ask you a little favor."

Ash, as dense as he was, could tell Misty was nervous. She was blushing again, and talking rather quickly. It was making him a little nervous too. What did she want?

"Yeah, what is it?" Ash thought aloud.

Misty then explained how Samantha had insulted her about her obvious lack of a boyfriend and she had lied to save face.

Ash didn't understand why she was telling him this. "So what does that have to do with me?" He asked innocently.

Misty face-faulted. How could anyone be so dense?! But she hid her frustration.

"Well, I was kinda hoping that you would . . . pretend to be my boyfriend?" There! It was out. Now all she had to do was wait for Ash's reaction.

Ash was stunned by Misty's request. Was he hearing right? Had Misty really just asked him out?

"What?!" He exclaimed. Misty just stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"No way!" Was what she got.

"Please Ash!" She begged. "It's not even a real date! And if you don't go, Samantha will know I was lying!"

"Well that's not my problem!"

Misty sighed. She had expected as much. It was a good thing she had a plan. She put on a defeated expression.

"Fine. I guess I'll have to get Brock to do it. It's too bad, you're going to miss the free buffet." She turned around and pretended to walk inside. "5...4...3...2...1..."

"Free buffet?" Said Ash.

Bingo! Misty faced Ash again. "That's right," she said, "I was gonna pay, but since you don't wanna go–"

"On second thought, I guess I _could_ go, as long as it's not for real."

It was too easy. Persuading Ash to do something was a lot like fishing; you just had to know what bait to use.

"Great! We're going tomorrow at seven. Don't forget." And with that Misty went inside, leaving Ash with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"What just happened here?" He muttered. He had a feeling he'd been tricked. Truth be known though, he had wanted to go all along. But he couldn't let Misty know that. She might get the wrong idea. But he was glad to know that she wasn't totally repulsed by that idea. After all, she could've asked Brock. And he wanted to see what it felt like. He could finally have a chance to hold her hand, to smile at her, to say nice things to her, and she wouldn't think anything of it. Sort of a trial run. It was perfect.

Misty was so relieved that it was over. "That wasn't so bad." She thought. She was happy that she would be able to fool Samantha, but she was also glad that she would get to spend some time alone with Ash. Sure, Samantha and her boyfriend would be there, but it was a good fifteen minute walk from the gym to downtown. Misty couldn't remember the last time she had had Ash to herself. This was going to be lovely.

The next day passed quickly for Ash and Misty. They and their friends swam in the gym pool, took a walk to Ceruean Lake, and played with their Pokemon. It was 6:30 before they knew it. Misty headed up to her room and looked in her closet for something to wear. Nothing but hand-me-downs. She was beginning to think that this was a mistake. But it was too late to back out now. She decided on a teal dress that matched her eyes. It was a sleeveless knee length with a square neck line. Misty then put on her favorite silver necklace with the Horsea charm to dress it up. She let her hair down and inspected her reflection in the mirror. Not great, but it would do.

"How do I look?" She asked Ash when she got down stairs.

"Really . . . um . . . nice." Was what he said, but "Beautiful." Was what he thought. He couldn't tell Misty that, of course. Seeing her so dressed up reminded him that he was still in his jeans and T-shirt.

"You're not wearing that, are you?" Misty said.

"What's wrong with it?"

"We're eating somewhere nice. You can't go like that!"

Ash complained, but he did as Misty said and changed into his khakis and a red polo shirt.

She handed him a wad of cash when he returned from changing.

"What's this for?" He asked.

"I can't let Samantha know I'm paying!"

"I don't get girls at all." Thought Ash.

They were very careful not to be seen when they left. If anyone asked where they were, May was going to cover for them by saying they had gone to the PokeMart to pick up some antidotes. Finally they got out the door.

Both of them were all nerves on the way there. Ash didn't get it. It wasn't a real date, so why was he so anxious?

And Misty knew Ash didn't really want to be there. She wasn't sure quite what to say, so she said nothing at all. Neither of them did. They were completely silent for the entire fifteen minutes. It was torture being alone together, so they were relieved when they reached the restaurant.

Samantha and Kyle were waiting outside when Ash and Misty arrived. Samantha was dressed like a princess in her red floor-length qipao embroidered with gold Milotics. Her hair was done up in a bun held up by gold colored chopsticks. Misty felt plain standing next to her. Kyle looked equally royal. He wore a black tux with a white shirt and red tie. His wavy brown hair was the same color as his eyes. Samantha hung off his arm as she greeted Misty. She wasted no time in beginning her assault.

"Hi Misty! I like your dress. The vintage look is very in now, you know."

Misty couldn't come up with a good counter, so "You look nice too." Was all she said. "Oh," she added, "this is my boyfriend, Ash."

Samantha introduced Kyle, and everyone exchanged pleasantries before going inside.

The restaurant was beautifully decorated. Red carpeting covered the floor, and the tables were covered in pretty lace table cloths. The white walls were covered with Chinese brush stroke paintings. One painting in particular caught Ash's eye. In depicted Ho-Oh with a long, green Pokemon he had never seen before.

When the waiter came to lead the couples to their table, Ash asked about the painting.

"Oh," said the waiter, "that's Ho-Oh and Rayquaza. In Chinese legend, they represent a perfectly matched couple. Yin and yang. It's customary in China to give gifts adorned with those Pokemon to newlywed couples. Supposed to bring them good luck."

"Wow," Misty sighed, "that's so romantic!"

When they reached the table, Kyle pulled out Samantha's chair for her, but Ash took off for the buffet before Misty even sat down. Samantha smirked at her. Ash returned with piles of food: egg rolls, won-ton soup, sweet and sour chicken, mushu pork, and a variety of other things. Everyone sweat-dropped as they watched him stuff his face. Misty jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

"Ow! What was that for?!" He exclaimed.

Samantha and Kyle laughed at the little quarrel.

Samantha realized something was going on and she was determined to catch Misty in her little lie. She began an interrogation as soon as everyone else had gotten their food.

"So, how long have you two been going out?"

"A year." "Three months." Ash and Misty said simultaneously.

"Which is it? A year or three months?"

Misty had to think quickly."Oh, well we met a year ago, but we've been going out for three months." "That was a close one." She thought. "I need to be more careful."

Samantha followed with a cute story about how she and Kyle had met six months ago at a Pokemon Contest Exhibition.

"I spotted Sam across a crowded room. I guess it was just love at first sight." Kyle said sweetly. "How did you and Misty meet, Ash?"

Ash was glad he didn't have to lie this time. "It's kinda funny. I accidently destroyed her bike, and she said wasn't gonna leave me alone until I paid her back for it."

Samantha saw another opportunity to strike. "I remember that bike. It was so old, it couldn't have been worth much. You should've thanked him for wrecking it."

Ash began to notice that Misty and Samantha weren't exactly on good terms with each other. He didn't quite understand dynamics at work, but he could tell that Samantha was trying to shame Misty. It seemed to be working. Her cheeks were tinted pink, and her brows were furrowed in frustration. Samantha was teasing her mercilessly, but she was too angry to think of any comebacks. It was really starting to irritate Ash. Who did this Samantha think she was to criticize Misty? Misty was superior in every aspect: prettier, smarter, and a heck of a lot nicer. He made an attempt to defend her.

"It wasn't bad. It was a lot nicer than the bike I have at home."

But Samantha was ruthless.

"You know Ash," she started, "I've been thinking this whole time that you looked familiar, but now I remember where I saw you. It was on TV. You were in the Pokemon League, weren't you? You did pretty well."

Ash's big ego got the best of him, and he suddenly forgot to be mad at Samantha.

"I guess I did. I came in fourth." He tried his best to sound modest, but he wasn't very good at it.

"Wow, that's really great! But who was that girl I saw you with?"

Misty was so embarrassed. She knew she shouldn't have come. Ash saw her hang her head out of the corner of his eye. He tried to correct Samantha.

"Oh, you mean May? She's just a friend."

"Oh, don't be embarrassed Ash. I understand exactly what's going on now. So Misty, how much did you pay him to come with you?"

Ash turned toward Misty just in time to see a tear slide down her cheek. That tore it. He wasn't going to let her be humiliated like that for another minute. There had to be some way to prove that he was her boyfriend. He had an idea, but he couldn't do _that_. But it was all he could think of. "Misty!" he whispered to her. She turned her face toward him, and he did it. He kissed her. Right on the lips. It only lasted an instant, and it was over before Misty knew what was happening, but she was so shocked that she fell backward out of her chair.

Everyone in the restaurant turned to stare, and Samantha and Kyle howled with laughter. Misty was absolutely mortified. She turned a color red not included in a ninety-six pack of Crayola crayons. By now she was sobbing, which only made things worse. Misty wanted to crawl into a hole, but she collected herself just enough to get up and run outside.

Ash felt terrible as he watched her go. The plan had been: 1. Kiss her. 2. Get up and lead her outside. 3. Leave her snobby friends with their mouths hanging open. But because he did it on impulse, it went totally awry. He gave Samantha and Kyle an angry glare before standing and chasing after Misty.

"Wait!" Kyle yelled. "You can't leave us with the bill!"

Ash didn't hear him though. He found Misty just outside, still crying. She turned on him as soon as she realized he was there.

"I'm sorry, Mist–" Misty didn't let him finish though.

"What were you thinking, Ash?!"

He was taken aback. What was she mad at him for? He hadn't been the one making fun of her.

"I was just trying to help!"

"Well you did a good job!"

"Hey, this wasn't my idea! You made me come!"

"I didn't make you come; you came because I told you there'd be free food!"

"Ok, fine, but it was your idea!"

"Yeah, but I didn't tell you to kiss me!"

They volleyed back and forth like this for a while until one of them gave up. Then they began the walk back to the gym.

Misty was mad at herself for yelling at Ash. Why had she done that? She was angry at Samantha, not him. Ash had only been trying to help. She had started an argument though, and her pride wouldn't let her apologize.

And Ash felt like a total idiot. He couldn't believe what he had done. How was Misty supposed to react to that?

"I can't blame her for being mad." He thought. "She must have been totally disgusted."

So they continued walking, in silence once again.

_Notes:_

_Qipao– A kind of Chinese style dress._

_I took the story about Ho-Oh and Raquaza from an actual Chinese belief about the dragon and the phoenix._


	4. Resolution

Chapter 4

Resolution

_Hi! Thanks for all your reviews, I really appreciate it! I've edited a couple of typos that you mentioned out, and I've been working hard on the next chapters. Anyway, here's chapter 4, I hope you like it! _

Brock was starting to worry. It was past nine, and Ash and Misty still weren't back. A trip to the PokeMart shouldn't take two hours. He was about to go out and look for them when they burst through the door, both looking rather grim. And what was with the fancy clothes? Wherever they had been, it wasn't the PokeMart. Just then, Max entered the room. He started to ask a question, but Brock covered his mouth before he could say anything.

"Hey, what was that for?" Demanded Max after he was released.

Brock just chuckled. "Trust me, if you value your life, you won't ask questions."

Misty marched upstairs to her room as soon as she got home. The room hadn't been changed in years, but the familiarity was comforting: same light blue walls, same oak bureau, same childish quilt covered in Seals on the bed. Misty collapsed onto the bed and tried to forget what had happened, but it was impossible. She could still hear Samantha's laughter ringing in her ears. Now that it was over, she could think of a million comebacks for her, but it was no good now. It was extremely frustrating!

And that wasn't the only thing. At first she had thought that she was only angry at Samantha, but now she realized she was mad at Ash too. Mad wasn't really the word though. Irritated was more appropriate. Misty had always dreamed of her first kiss, but now it had been spoiled. The problem wasn't who had given it to her, but it had no meaning in it. Not to Ash anyway. He had only been trying to help a friend, nothing more. Didn't he have any idea how important a first kiss was to a girl? But that was a stupid question. Of course he didn't. Ash was completely oblivious to that sort of thing.

Misty yawned. She hadn't realized how tired she was. If a knock hadn't come at the door just then, she would have fallen asleep. She was afraid it was Ash, but she got up to open the door anyway. Thankfully, it was just May. She was bursting with excitement.

"So, how did it go?" She gushed. But then she saw Misty's face.

"Hey, what's wrong? What happened?" She asked.

Misty was hesitant to explain, but she needed to talk to someone about it. So she let May into her room and they both sat on the bed.

"It was a disaster! Samantha figured it all out, and she totally humiliated me, and . . . "

"And what?"

But Misty didn't want to tell that part.

"Nothing. It's nothing." She said.

May knew something else had happened, but she didn't want to force Misty to talk about it.

"Don't worry about Samantha," May started, "she's not worth it. I don't know why you're even friends with her."

"I don't either. We used to live next door together, and we played together a lot, but even back then I didn't like her. She never did anything obvious until tonight, but she was always bragging and teasing me. I was glad when she moved across town, but she kept inviting me to hang out. I never wanted to go, but I had to pretend to like her because I thought she was my friend."

"May nodded her head sympathetically. "I know what you mean." She said. "I had a friend like that once. She'd said mean things to me, but then she'd say 'I was just kidding, May, can't you take a joke?' People like that really bug me!"

May's ranting made Misty felt a little better, but she was still upset about Ash. She wasn't sure if she would even be able to talk to him the next day. Not was it going to be very awkward, but what if he were still mad at her? Misty fell asleep with these thoughts soon after May left.

Ash was lying on his bed in the guest room, staring at the ceiling. He didn't want to think about what had happened because every time he did, he was hit with a wave of embarrassment. He still couldn't believe what he had done. What had he been _thinking_? That was easy. He hadn't been thinking at all. His actions had been completely emotional, fueled by passion and adrenaline. Ash had felt so sad for Misty when she started to cry. At that moment, he would've done anything to make her feel better. And the way that girl had hurt her had just infuriated him! Ash had wanted to throw her cruelty right back at her. Teach her a lesson she wouldn't soon forget. Too bad it hadn't worked out that way.

Ash felt horrible for what he had done. Misty had been humiliated by her rival. It didn't get much worse than that.

"And it's all my fault." Ash thought. "She'll probably never speak to me again."

It pained him so much to think that he had ruined his relationship with Misty. She was his best friend in the world. He knew she would always be there when he needed her, and he trusted her completely. But now he had screwed up. Screwed up fantastically. It was going to be awfully hard not having Misty to confide in. But most of all, Ash would miss her company. He was happy when he was with her. It didn't matter what they were doing: talking, laughing . . . heck, he even loved arguing with her. Just as long as they were together. Ash had never realized how important Misty had become to him until she was gone. Then he missed her every day. Now, finally, he was with her again, but it was almost over. There was no way she was going to go with him when he left again. Not after what he'd done. And even if she did go, how would it be? Misty knew– thought– Ash liked her now, but she didn't feel the same way. Things would never be the same. The easiness between them would be replaced with nervousness and embarrassment. He knew he could never talk to her like he used to.

Ash was depressing himself. He tried to think of something positive. "At least now I know how she feels."

That was true. No longer would he have to worry over whether she could ever like him or not. But it wasn't comforting. In fact, Ash was surprised to find that he was a little disappointed . . . but only a little. Pikachu was lying next to him on the bed. He gave it a scratch behind the ears and said

"What's the matter with me, Pikachu?" Pikachu looked at its master pensively. Then it smiled and cuddled up to him in an attempt to comfort him.

"Thanks, buddy." Ash said.

Suddenly the door opened and Brock entered.

"Hey Ash." He said simply.

Ash muttered some response that Brock couldn't hear. It was strange seeing Ash so somber. These little fights he had with Misty were never enough to get either of them down. Brock didn't know what to say to him, so he got strait to the point.

"Look Ash, I don't know what happened and I'm not gonna ask, but whatever it is, just apologize. I'm sure Misty will forgive you."

"If only it were that easy." Ash thought. But he had to pretend to be indignant.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said.

Brock gave him an amused look and said "Oh, come on, Ash, it's obvious you two have been fighting."

"Yeah, well . . . who says it's my fault?!"

Brock gave him the amused look again. "Well, it doesn't really matter whose fault it is. Just make-up with her soon. We need to leave the day after tomorrow."

Ash started to say something, but stopped. They had to leave already? But it seemed like they'd just gotten there.

"Just leave me alone, will you?"

The night passed slowly for Ash. Why was it that his insomnia was always caused by Misty?

Ash woke up to the sound of May's voice.

"Ash, it's already 11! Are you getting up or not?!"

He groaned and rolled over to see May, already dressed, standing with her hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face. Pikachu was gone. Probably eating breakfast. May was tired of waiting.

"Fine. Sleep in if you want. We're taking a picnic lunch down to Cerulean Lake, but we're not gonna wait all day for you." And then she was gone.

Ash was still half asleep, but he forced himself to get out of bed and get dressed. Then he headed down stairs and joined his friends. Misty was in the kitchen making sandwiches, but she stopped when she saw him.

"Oh, um, morning Ash." She said quietly. Ash returned her greeting, and then there was an uncomfortable pause. Finally Misty turned around and continued what she was doing. It was going to be a long day.

Everyone was aware of the tension between Ash and Misty as they made their way to the lake. They all tried to make conversation; May commented on the warm weather, Brock on how many beautiful girls there would be at the lake, and Max on a new finding on shiny Pokemon. But none of it reached Ash or Misty. They were off in their own little worlds.

It was a beautiful day for a trip to the lake. The afternoon sun shone on the blue water and a cool breeze was blowing. The group spread out a red-checkered quilt and sat down to eat. Everything tasted great, but neither Ash nor Misty was eating much. They had been a drag all day, and it was starting to get to the others, so they ate as fast as they could to escape the strained quiet. Max had brought his frisbee, and he, May, Brock, and Pikachu entertained themselves with that. Ash made an excuse about being too full to play, and Misty said something about being sleepy. May and Brock were starting to get really frustrated with them, but they didn't say anything. They left Ash and Misty in the hopes that something might happen while they were alone together.

Ash did not want to be left alone with Misty. What was he supposed to say to her? And Misty was equally ill at ease. They sat there staring into space for ten agonizing minutes. Misty sighed. Ash coughed. He needed to apologize to her. It wouldn't be right to leave while they were fighting. But he couldn't think of anything to say. So he just said the first thing he thought of.

"I think we're leaving tomorrow, so you won't have to deal with me much anymore."

No, not that! What a stupid thing to say! It sounded like he was still mad at her. That's how it sounded to Misty too.

But all she could say was "Oh."

Normally, she would never have let Ash get away with such a comment, but this time, she deserved it. Besides, if she said anything more, he might hear the tear in her voice. It was her fault he was leaving so soon. She wasn't ready. Misty had missed Ash every day when he was gone. And she worried about him too. Trouble seemed to follow him, this she knew from experience.

Ash glanced at Misty, quickly so she wouldn't see him. She was deep in thought, but he could only imagine what about. And she looked sad again.

"Why do I always say such dumb things?!" Ash thought. He was trying, but nothing ever came out the right way when he was talking to Misty. But he wasn't going to make her cry again.

"Misty?"

"Hm?" She responded, but she continued staring at the ground.

"I'm really sorry for what happened last night. I don't know what I was thinking."

Now he had her attention. She smiled and blushed. "Oh, don't worry about it Ash. I'm sorry I yelled at you. I wasn't really mad, just embarrassed."

So . . . she _wasn't _disgusted?

But he added: "I didn't mean anything by it, you know. I just wanted to help." Just in case.

"I know."

"I know all too well." Misty thought.

But she forced herself to smile at Ash, and he smiled back. They were both enjoying the moment until Max's frisbee came sailing out of nowhere and hit Ash on the head.

"Oops, sorry!" Called Max.

Ash rubbed his head and pretended to be annoyed, but then he sent the frisbee flying back, and he and Misty joined the game. It was dark before long and time to head back to the gym. Misty couldn't believe the day was already over. She had wanted to savor every moment of it, but she was having so much fun that she forgot to. Tomorrow, Ash would be gone again and Misty would be alone again. She dreaded the morning.

And it came all too soon. Misty stood on her doorstep and looked at her friends one last time.

"Well, I guess this is it." Said Ash.

"Don't cry, don't cry . . . " She thought, but resisting was useless. A tear escaped her and rolled down her face.

Ash tried to find words to comfort her, but his mind went blank again. It was just like the last time he left her.

Finally he choked out: "Don't cry, Misty. It's not like we're never gonna see each other again."

Ash thought it sounded stupid, but it meant a lot to Misty. It didn't change the fact that he was leaving though. She missed him already, and it was becoming unbearable. And when Ash extended his hand to her, she could stand it no longer. Instead of shaking his hand, she threw her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

Everyone was shocked, especially Ash. He was stupefied. All he could do was stand there, hand still held out, with his mouth hanging open like an idiot. All he could say was "Uh . . . um . . . " But then Ash heard Misty sob, and it made him feel the same loneliness she was feeling. He knew he didn't want her to cry anymore. The desire to comfort her won out over embarrassment, and he finally put his arms around her.

"Misty . . . "

Ash noticed how warm she felt in his arms, and how nice her hair smelled, like strawberry shampoo.

May was trying to hold in her excitement for Misty, but it wasn't working very well. She was grinning from ear to ear and giggling like crazy. May's laughter made Misty realize come to her senses, and she realized what she was doing. She jerked herself away from Ash, but it was too late. She could already feel herself blushing, and Ash was blushing too. Misty tried to downplay her embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, you guys take care of yourselves."

"We will," Brock assured her, and then everyone said good-byes.

And they were gone again. Misty watched her friends leave together until they disappeared around a curve. Familiar feelings of rejection and loneliness welled up inside her. It wasn't their fault, and she knew that, but she hated that she couldn't be part of Ash's life anymore. She knew that she would fade from Ash's mind in her absence. Sure, she'd still see him from time to time, but she was no longer a part of the group.

Misty was sick of thinking, so she turned around and headed inside. She didn't want to have to talk to anyone then, but her sisters greeted her before she could even reach the stairs.

"Like, what are you still doing here, Misty?" Violet asked.

Violet added "Yeah, weren't you gonna leave with your friends?"

Misty looked at her sisters sadly. "You know I can't leave. Not with the way you three battle. I have to stay here and take care of the gym."

"Hey, that's not fair! We've been improving a lot lately." Daisy retorted.

"But it's still not enough." Misty wanted to go so badly, but she didn't trust her sisters to run the gym. They were more interested in beauty than Pokemon.

"Misty," Lily started "we like, can't keep relying on you. We need to learn how to do things on our own."

"But what if the gym gets closed down?"

Daisy smiled at Misty's concern. "Then it gets closed down. Misty, your happiness is like, totally more important to us than the gym, and I know you'd be like, a lot happier with your friends."

"But–"

"No buts. Like, you'd better hurry up if you want to catch them."

Misty felt like she had been relieved of a great burden. Smiling brightly, she thanked her sisters, hugged each of them good-bye, and ran to get her Pokemon. Then she rushed out the door and took off in the direction Ash and the others had left. Her joy filled her with energy, and she felt like she could run fast enough to fly. It wasn't long before she spotted four figures walking down the road.

"Hey Ash!" Misty called out.

Ash turned around to see Misty come dashing toward him.

"Misty?" He said.

"Wait for me, I'm coming too!"

Pikachu jumped off his perch on Ash's shoulder and ran to meet Misty. It jumped into her open arms when it reached her and gave a little squeal of delight. Misty laughed and stroked Pikachu's shiny yellow coat. Ash and the caught up after a minute.

"What happened?" Ash said. " I thought you still had to take care of the gym for your sisters."

It was a simple question, but it angered Misty. "Oh, so I guess you don't want me to come, is that it?!"

"Huh? No, that's not it at all!"

"Well that's what it sounded like!"

"Then maybe you need to get your ears checked, because that's not what I said!"

May, Brock, and Max all sweat-dropped. Two minutes and they were already at it again! Pikachu started glowing with electricity, and called out its name before shocking Ash and Misty out of their argument.

"Pikachu, what'd you do that for?!" Whined Ash.

Brock laughed at Ash and Misty's immaturity. "Don't get mad at Pikachu, Ash, you deserved it!"

Ash scowled at Brock, but Brock didn't see it because he was still laughing. So he got up and held out his hand to Misty, who begrudgingly took it and pulled herself up. She was obviously still mad, so Ash pretended to be too. But inside, he was smiling. He had missed everything about Misty, even her temper. She'd be over this argument soon enough. In fact, she already was. How could she stay mad when she was so happy? At that moment, she made a silent vow to Ash.

"I'm never gonna leave your side again."


	5. The Crush

Chapter 5

The Crush

_No, Chapter 4 wasn't the last chapter. Just the end of the first arc. As always, I appreciate your reviews, both good and bad. One thing though, not to be a know-it-all or anything, but "swum" is right. You use "swam" in the perfect case and "swum" in the imperfect,pluperfect, and future perfect. So, "She swam.", but "She has/had/will have swum."_

May wasn't very happy about the next stop on the journey. Mt Moon. A cave. She could already see its ominous shape looming on the horizon.

"Brock, are you _sure_ wehave to go through Mt. Moon to get to Pallet Town?" She asked.

"It's either that or climb it." Brock replied.

May sighed and hung her head. "I'm sick of caves! We just went through Rock Tunnel a week ago!"

"Please don't remind me of _that_." Ash said, grimacing.

Misty still didn't like it when something she hadn't been a part of was mentioned, but she decided it was better to try to work her way into the conversation than sulk about it. So she asked what had happened.

Max rolled his eyes. "It was awful. May thought she saw a Rattata and screamed, and it upset a nest of Zubats. And Rattatas don't even live in caves! Leave it to my sister to–" But then he got a nasty glance from May. He hid behind Ash before saying "You're scarier than any cave, May."

But May ignored it. There were bigger things to worry about. Like getting lost in Mt. Moon. Or getting attacked by a huge Pokemon in Mt. Moon. Or . . .

"Don't worry, May," Misty consoled, "we'll be fine as long as we have our Pokemon to protect us."

May brightened up a little at Misty's words. "Yeah, you're right. I'm being silly."

But her newfound confidence drained when they arrived at the base of the mountain. It was even bigger close up, its peak was shrouded by clouds. The mouth of the cave seemed to suck up any light that entered. How were their little flashlights going to help? May was reluctant to enter, but the others were already filing into the darkness. She took a deep breath before heading in.

Max, unlike his sister, couldn't wait to start exploring the cave. Brock's warning of "Everyone stick together so we don't get separated." Was already forgotten. There were new things to be studied everywhere he looked!

"Wow, look at this, I've never seen this kind of alga before!" He called excitedly.

May turned and pointed her flashlight in the direction of Max's voice. He was squatting beside a rock with some kind of green stuff on it.

"Ew, Max, don't touch that slime!" She reprimanded.

"It's not slime, it's some kind of moss."

"Well, whatever it is, it's gross. Don't touch it! And stop falling behind, you're gonna get lost!"

"May just doesn't get it at all." Max thought. "How can anyone go through a cave without finding anything interesting?"

But he stood up with a sigh and caught up to his friends. For a while anyway. Then he caught sight of some Pokemon footprints he didn't recognize.

"Hey guys, come look at this!" He called back, but they didn't hear him. They were already a few yards ahead, but Max just couldn't leave his new discovery alone.

"I'll catch up in a few minutes, after I find out where these lead." He thought. The footprints went farther and farther into the cave, and Max followed. But the trail of footprints didn't show any sign of ending. Max looked up to get his bearings, and, much to his dismay, he had no idea where he was.

"May!" He shouted. "Ash? Brock? Misty?"

But the only response was the screech of a flock of Zubats. Max dove to the ground as the room filled with them, dropping his flashlight to cover his head with his hands. The flashlight blinked on and off for a few seconds, and then the light died completely.

"Uh-oh . . ." Max squeaked.

Normally he would have known better, but in his panic he stood up and started looking for a way out. But there was nothing to be found in the winding tunnels except more darkness. Finally, tired and scared, Max gave up.

"What am I gonna do?" He moaned to himself. "I'm never gonna get out like this!"

Just when he was about to give up all hope, Max heard voices. Human voices. They weren't those of his friends, but they sounded a bit familiar. It was hard to tell though, because of the echo in the cave. Max couldn't have cared less who it was though; he was relieved to get find any help at all. Without another thought, he ran in toward the voices, hoping to find their owners.

May stiffened when she heard the high-pitched voices of Zubats. They sounded pretty far away, but she couldn't be too sure after her experience at Rock Tunnel.

"Max, stick close, ok?" No answer.

"Ok? Max?" May wheeled around, but Max was nowhere in sight.

"Hey Ash, is Max up there with you?" She asked.

"I thought he was with you!" Replied Ash.

"He was a just minute ago."

Brock noticed the worry in May's voice. "Don't worry, he couldn't have gone very far. We're bound to find him if we retrace our steps." He said.

And so they did. But after five minutes of searching the cave and finding nothing, May started to get desperate.

"What am I going to do if we never find him?!" She wailed.

Misty was starting to worry too, but for May's sake, she tried not to show it.

"Max is a smart kid, May." She said, putting a hand on May's shoulder. "If we don't find him, I'm sure he'll find us."

Ash nodded in agreement. "Misty's right. He's probably just fine."

May, however, was unconvinced. "But what if he's hurt?! Or–"

"Well we're not helping Max by just standing around worrying." Brock cut in. "Let's keep looking."

They had only gone a few steps when Pikachu picked up on a familiar scent. It sniffed until it found the object giving off the scent, and then alerted its trainer. Ash shined his flashlight on the object: Max's flashlight.

May, who had been holding it together pretty well until then, suddenly burst into tears.

"Why would he just leave his flashlight? Something must have happened to him!" She lamented.

"Stay calm." Said Brock. "Look, there's two sets of footprints on the ground. One of them must belong to Max."

"So Max must be at the end! Let's go!" Ash said, and then he led the way into a narrow tunnel. Brock caught up and followed the trail of footprints with his flashlight. Misty came next, and finally May, praying that she would find her brother safe at the end.

And finally, there was Max, sitting on the ground, shaken, but unharmed.

"Max!" Yelled May as she ran to him.

"May!" He replied. "Help! I'm tied up!"

"Huh?" She stopped in her tracks and looked more carefully at him. Sure enough, there were ropes binding his arms behind his back.

"Hang on! I'll untie you!"

But before May could reach Max, a tall figure emerged from the darkness and blocked her path.

"Not so fast, little girl." The figure said. A man's voice.

May was undaunted. "What do you want with my brother?! Who are you?! " She yelled.

A second figure came out of the blackness and joined its partner.

"I'm glad you asked that question." It said.

A woman's voice this time. She and the man took out flashlights and shown them in their faces, revealing their identities.

"Team Rocket!" Everyone exclaimed, somehow in unison.

"No no no!" Yelled the woman, Jessie. "You don't say 'Team Rocket!' until _after_ we do the motto!"

Ash sighed and looked impatient. "Ok, go ahead then." He said.

Jessie cleared her throat and tossed her long red hair before beginning.

"Prepare for trouble."

James, the man, ran ahis fingers through his blue hair. "And make it double." He said.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

A small cat like Pokemon jumped in front of Jessie and James and posed with its paws held up to its head. "Meowth, that's right!" It said.

"Ok, now you can say it." Said James.

"Team Rocket!" Repeated the group.

"What are you doing here?!" Ash demanded.

"We was tryin' to get ahead of youse twoips so's we could dig a trap and catch Pikachu," said Meowth.

"But then we got kind of lost." Finished James, putting his hand behind his head and grinning in embarrassment.

Everyone face-faulted at Team Rocket's stupidity.

"How could you get lost if you were following us?!" Misty yelled.

Jessie noticed Misty for the first time.

"Well, well, if it isn't the redheaded twerpette. Haven't seen you in a while." She said

"Skip the pleasantries, Jessie, let Max go!"

"I'm sorry, but we can't do that. However, we might be persuaded to make a little trade. We'll let the kid go if you give us Pikachu."

Pikachu said its name and began sparking at its cheeks, ready for battle, but Misty beat Ash to it.

"Fat chance!" She said, plucking a Pokeball from her belt. Then she pressed a button that enlarged it and threw it to the ground.

"Go, Gyarados!" She called.

The Pokeball opened and released the giant beast inside. Gyarados roared to announce its presence and prepared to fight while May ran for cover behind Brock.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it." Jessie threw her own Pokeball to meet Misty's Gyarados.

"Go, Seviper!" She called.

A huge black snake appeared from the Pokeball and glared menacingly at its opponent.

Max watched with rapt attention. He had seen Misty battle only once before, and he was eager to learn more about her style. But Jessie made the first move.

"Seviper, use your poison sting attack!" She ordered.

Seviper opened its mouth obediently and launched its shining missiles at Gyarados. It was a direct hit that left Gyarados growling in pain.

"Gyarados!" Misty called.

But there was no need for concern. Gyarados had already recovered and was ready to attack.

"Ok Gyarados, bubble beam!"

Gyarados shot a stream of bubbles from its mouth at Seviper who was knocked to the ground.

"Seviper, get up! Don't lose to that oversized dragon!" Screamed Jessie.

James cheered from the sidelines. "Come on Seviper, you can do it!"

Seviper was tired, but it wanted to please its master. It struggled up and did its best to appear intimidating.

Jessie, seeing that she was still in the battle, commanded another attack. "Now Seviper, bite it!"

Seviper flung itself at Gyarados and latched on with its sharp teeth, but Gyarados could barely feel it through its scales.

"Shake it off, Gyarados!" Shouted Misty.

Gyarados swung its massive head around and around. Seviper did its best to hold on, but finally it became too weak to keep it up and was sent sailing across the room.

Misty knew that it was as good as over. "Good, now finish it with hydro pump!"

Gyarados reared back and aimed a river of water at Seviper. It was sent flying backwards and crashed into Team Rocket, forcing them all through the entrance of the next tunnel.

A crash was heard by Misty and her friends, followed cries of "Graveller!" and Team Rocket's pleas of "No! Please don't hurt us! We're sorry!" But the angry Graveller was not pacified. The group sweat-dropped as th boulder Pokemon stomped into the room carrying Team Rocket over its body.

"Looks like Team Rocket got carried away again!" Cried Jessie and James as the Graveller carried them through another tunnel. More thumping and banging entered the room, but it was getting farther away.

Misty ran to her Gyarados and as soon as Team Rocket was out of earshot. "You did a great job, Gyarados." She congratulated, and did her best to hug it despite its size.

Gyarados grinned and roared with pride.

"Great, can you put it away now, please?" Asked May, who hadn't left her place behind Brock.

"Oh, sorry May." Misty returned her Pokemon to its Pokeball and placed the ball back on her hip.

Now that the coast was clear, May ran to her little brother and knelt to untie him.

"I told you to keep up!" She scolded. "You've caused a lot of trouble!"

She softened when she saw Max's guilty expression though, and added "But I'm glad you're ok."

Then they both stood, ready to continue through the cave.

"What do you say we find a way out of here?" Brock said.

May replied "Sounds good to me!" and the group began their trek through the cave once more.

Max wanted to thank Misty for saving him, so he caught up to her at the front of the group.

"Thanks for rescuing me." He said. "Sorry if I caused you any trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Max, Team Rocket's easy to beat. It was actually kinda fun." Replied Misty.

Max just stared at his feet. "Yeah, you were great, but I couldn't help myself at all."

"That's just because you don't have any Pokemon. When you become a trainer, Team Rocket will be no problem for you."

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

Max blushed furiously at Misty's remark. Was she just being polite? No, he could tell that she really believed in him. Sometimes May and the others talked down to him, but not Misty. She didn't treat him like a little kid. Max felt something he had never felt before. It was sort of a happy, excited feeling, like a spring breeze. And it was Misty who caused it.

These were Max's thoughts when something shiny caught his eye. Upon further investigation, he found it to be a piece of quartz. The light from May's flashlight must have reflected off of it.

Misty followed Max and knelt on the ground beside him to see what he had found.

"What are you looking at, Max?" She asked.

Max held the rock in front of Misty's flashlight to make it shine again. Quartz was common, but this piece was especially brilliant. Impurities inside of it made the light dance across the ground, refracting it into rainbows.

"Wow, it's beautiful!" Misty gasped.

"You can have it if you want." Max shrugged as if he were indifferent, but inside he was proud that his discovery had impressed Misty so. She took it and thanked him with a smile, but the moment was ruined by Ash yelling "Are you guys coming or not?"

Max hadn't even realized that he'd fallen behind again. But Misty was with him, so it was all right. They ran to join the rest of the group, and soon they found Mt. Moon's exit.

"Light!" Cried May. "Come on, let's get out of here!"

She led the way out into the fading sunlight.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"I'd say six or seven o'clock." Responded Brock, frowning. "Dealing with Team Rocket put us an hour behind schedule. Anyway, it's going to be too dark to see soon, so we should probably set up camp here."

It wasn't easy to find a good spot on the rocky ground, but finally they came across a grassy patch of land and settled in. Then everyone was assigned tasks for preparing dinner and got to work.

Ash and Max were to find firewood, Misty and May chopped up vegetables, and Brock was going to cook. Ash led Max over the rocky terrain to group of pitiful looking trees. Their roots did were not able to get very far into the rough ground, and so they were stubby and thin from lack of nutrients. Ash set to work pulling branches off the trees, but Max wasn't putting much effort into it. He kept looking back to where Misty and May sat peeling potatoes. They were chatting easily about this and that while they worked, laughing now and then at some amusing comment. Max had never noticed how pretty Misty was until then, but in the light of the setting sun, it was clear to him. Her hair glowed amber, and her eyes sparkled like the quartz he had given her. She was so . . .

But Ash, tired of doing all the work himself, snapped Max out of his trance. "How about a little help here?" He said impatiently.

"Huh? Oh, sorry!"

"Are you ok? You were sorta spacing out."

"Yeah, I'm fine." But Max couldn't help taking one last glance at Misty.

"Isn't Misty amazing?" He sighed.

"Yeah . . ." Responded Ash. "Huh? Wait, no! I mean–"

But Max wasn't even listening. "She's kind, smart, nice, and an awesome trainer. Can I tell you a secret, Ash? Man to man?"

Ash wasn't sure where Max was going with all this, but he listened.

"I think I'm in love." Max confessed with a blush.

"What?!" Ash exclaimed. And, not wanting to hurt Max's feelings, he added "I mean, don't you think she's a little old for you?"

"Love knows no age." Max said smartly.

"I just hope Misty knows that."

"She's too cool to care about that."

Ash frowned. He had a feeling that Max was going to get hurt. There was no way Misty was going to go out with a little kid like him. And even though she was kind, and would try not to hurt Max's feelings . . . well, it was not going to be easy for him. Ash knew first hand how much it hurt to have a crush on Misty. He only wished that he could have the same confidence Max had. Maybe then Misty would . . . but no. No amount of confidence could change the way she felt.

Ash heard Brock calling for him to come back to the campsite, so he and Max gathered their branches and started back.

Soon everyone had eaten and it was time to sleep. In the morning they would continue to Pewter City, Brock's hometown, but right now, they were glad for the break. The little adventure in Mt. Moon had tired the group, and they all fell asleep quickly under the stars.


	6. Two Confessions

Chapter 6

Two Confessions

_This is the first chapter I've posted here that I haven't already posted at Serebii, so it's going to be longer between chapters from now on. This is also the longest chapter I've done so far. Funny, at first, I had no idea how I was gonna do it. But anyway, thanks again for all your kind reviews. I hope you enjoy!_

Misty and Max led the group through the rocky meadows that led to Pewter City. She listened politely while he babbled on and on about Pokemon.

Finally May interrupted and said "Max, quit leave Misty alone. You're bothering her."

"I'm not bothering her!" Max gave Misty a wistful look. "Am I Misty?" He asked.

"No, of course not!" She replied cheerfully.

Actually, she was beginning to get a little tired of his incessant chatter, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

Max turned around and stuck his tongue out at May in defiance. "Told you!" He said, but one glance from May ended his gloating. So he resumed talking to Misty about this and that, and she resumed her efforts to look interested.

The meadows were filled with all sorts of wild-flowers, and Max picked a few here and there while he was talking. He had collected all sorts of colors and shapes, and the bouquet was quite pretty.

"Here," he said to Misty, sticking the flowers in her face, "I picked these for you."

He hoped she couldn't that his face matched some of the pink flowers in the bunch, but she couldn't have missed it.

"How cute!" She thought as she accepted the flowers. Of course, she didn't say that. Kids, especially boys, hated being called cute. So instead she thanked him and tried to show a little enthusiasm.

"Do you know the names of any of these flowers?"

Misty saw the glint Max got in his eye and regretted asking immediately, but it was too late now.

"Well," he began, "this white one is Daucus Carota, more commonly known as Queen Anne's Lace. It's pretty common. It's closely related to the carrot, and the roots are edible. And this one is Eupatorium Coelestinum, or Mistflower. Hey, it's sorta like your name! That pink one is

called . . ."

And so he continued for about five minutes before Ash interrupted with "Geez, Max, she asked you to name them, not classify them!"

Normally Max would have realized his mistake, but he couldn't let Ash embarrass him in front of Misty like that.

"Excuse me, Ash," Max snapped, "but _I _was talking to Misty." And turning to Misty "Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted?"

Misty threw Ash a sympathetic glance, but she didn't say anything. He could take a little embarrassment now and then. In fact, he didn't seem to get embarrassed enough. Max was only a little kid though, and she didn't want to humiliate him. May, however, wasn't so kind.

"Max! That was really rude! Apologize to Ash!"

"But he started it!"

"I don't care who started it, if you don't finish it now, I'll do it for you, and trust me, you don't want that."

Max still didn't want Misty to see him lose an argument, but he knew when to shut-up.

"Sorry, Ash." He said, although it was plain that he was only saying it because he had to.

After that, he continued talking to Misty as if nothing had happened.

"What's gotten into him?" Brock muttered to Ash.

"How should I know? I'm not a psychologist." Replied Ash curtly.

"No need to be jealous, Ash. I'm pretty sure whatever's going on is one-sided."

"Jealous?! Who's jealous?! I'm just . . . irritated, that's all!"

Ash didn't even know how loud he said this until the others all turned to stare.

"What's going on back there?" Misty asked.

Ash, not wanting Misty to hear her name and "jealous" in the same sentence, started blushing and stuttering.

"N-nothing! Nothing's going on here! Right Brock?"

"Uh, right." Said Brock quickly. Teasing Ash was one thing, but it was not wise to make Misty angry. She could get pretty violent.

Max rolled his eyes at Ash and then picked up where he had left off with Misty, much to Misty's dismay. How much longer was it going to take to get to Pewter? It seemed like they weren't getting anywhere, but finally they crested a hill and the stone-gray city lay before them. Everyone sighed in relief at the sight.

"I can't wait to sleep in a real bed!" May cheered. "Let's hurry!"

But Brock was not going to get a chance to relax. His father cried tears of joy at his arrival home, happy to have him back to help with his brothers and sisters.

"Where have you been, Brock?!" He asked impatiently. "We need help!"

Brock was tired, but he didn't complain.

"Fine. What do you need help with?"

"Everything!

Everyone then went inside to assess the damage. The inside of the home was a catastrophe. Junk was piled two inches deep on the floor's tatami, as on the sofa and chairs. The white walls and screens were covered with dirt, and the sound of breaking glass was heard in the background. Kids, who looked just like Brock and his parents, were running all over the place, screaming as they went. They were completely oblivious to the other people in the house, but when Brock yelled "QUIET!" they all froze in place. The lamp was still swinging, but no one made a sound. Everyone was amazed at how the children obeyed Brock without any whining. He then commanded all of his siblings to line up order according to age, which they did immediately. The silence had given away to tittering, as they were all glad to see their big brother again, but they remained relatively calm. Now that the kids were all together, the group could see that there were only six of them. Before it had seemed like sixteen!

"Now," said Brock, "I know you've all met Ash and Misty before, but I also want you to say hello to my new friends, May and Max."

"Hi!" The children said together.

"Hi! Nice to meet you!" Responded May.

"I guess I should introduce everyone." Brock said. He started at the top of the line with the oldest boy who was about twelve, and worked his way down to the youngest, a four-year-old.

"This is William, and this is Anna, then Laura, Scott, Emmie, and last but not least, Adam. Phew!"

"Wow, Brock, you sure have a big family!" Max said, wide-eyed. "No wonder you know how to cook so well!"

"Yeah, you when you have as many siblings as I do, you sorta have to learn how to do that kind of stuff."

"I don't know how you do it!" Exclaimed Misty. "I can barely handle three sisters."

"Hey Misty, I'd feel sorry for the kids who had to eat your cooking!" Ash teased.

Misty responded by clobbering him in the head with her mallet.

Everyone sweat-dropped at Ash, who was lying on the floor, and May laughed. "You just never learn, do you Ash?" She said.

"And by the looks of this place, you guys never clean. Let's get to work!" Brock ordered.

The children broke from the line and scurried around picking stuff up off of the floor, and Brock and his friends helped.

Emmie wanted to get done as fast as possible so she could greet Brock and meet his friends. She piled up a stack of books and papers higher than her head, and ran toward the book shelf. But unable to see over her burden, she ran right into a coffee table, dropped all the books, and knocked over her mother's favorite vase. It fell to the floor with a crash, shattering into a million pieces.

"Oh no! Dad's gonna kill me when he finds out!" She cried.

Emmie stared at the broken pieces, trying to think of a good alibi when she heard a voice behind her.

"Are you ok, Emmie?" It said.

She spun around to see Brock's friend, the kid with the glasses. Max, that was his name.

"Uh-huh. But I broke my mom's vase, and–"

Brock cut in before she could finish though.

"What happened here?" He asked sternly.

Good, he hadn't seen. Hadn't he heard the crash though? No, the shouts of her hyper siblings had drowned it out. But now what was she supposed to say? Emmie's mind was a total blank! But then Max did something no one had ever done for her: he took the blame.

"It was my fault. I guess I was carrying too much stuff, and couldn't see where I was going. I'm really sorry! I'll pay for it, I swear! I'll get the money somehow!"

Brock wasn't really angry though. "Don't worry about it." He said. "Just be more careful next time. And don't worry, I won't mention it to May."

"Thanks, Brock. I really am sorry!"

"I know you are. I'll be back in a minute to clean up the glass. Don't touch it until I get back."

Then Brock left, and Emmie slowly realized that she wasn't going to die! And it was all thanks to Max. For him, it had been nothing but it really meant a lot to Emmie. She had so many brothers and sisters that most people couldn't even remember her name.

"Wow, thanks Max! No one's ever, ever done something like that for me!"

"Aw, it's ok." Max replied cooly. " I know what a pain older siblings can be."

Emmie giggled and thanked him again as he stooped over to pick up her books.

Now that he got a good look at her, he had to admit she was kind of cute. She looked just like Brock, but younger, and with decidedly more feminine features. In her short brown hair, she wore a pink ribbon that matched her jumper.

Still, Emmie was just a kid. She couldn't possibly compare to Misty's beauty and grace.

Brock returned a moment later with a broom and dust pan and swept up all the glass shards, and Max and Emmie got back to cleaning. When everyone was finished, it was impossible to tell that the room had ever been dirty at all.

"Good job, guys!" Brock said as he surveyed the now clean den. "You all deserve a good dinner. I'm going to cook something special up!" And he tied on his apron and went into the kitchen. Soon enticing smells reached the den, making everyone's mouth water.

"It sure is good to have Brock home!" Brock's mom smiled, and the rest of the family agreed. Apparently, their mother wasn't the best chef, so the delicious meal was heartily welcomed. When it was all ready, the siblings all rushed into the dining room as fast as they could, all except for Emmie who was pushed aside by her excited brothers. They wasted no time attacking the food. It was quite a spread: roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, baked apples, warm bread, and cherry pie for desert. And it had already been taken by the time Emmie got to the table.

"Oh well. At least I get to sit next to Max." She thought.

"Didn't you get anything to eat?" Max asked when he noticed her empty plate.

"No, but it's ok. I'm not hungry anyway." But then her belly growled and it was obvious that she was actually quite hungry after all.

Max chuckled a little and sweat-dropped. "Here, why don't you take some of mine?" He offered.

"Thank you, Max!" Emmie squealed as she blushed. "You're so nice!"

He mirrored her blush as he said that it was nothing. It wasn't, really.

He was too busy staring at Misty seated at the other end of the table to eat much. Her beauty just demanded attention. But Emmie wouldn't leave him alone.

"So, how old are you?" She said between mouthfuls.

"Huh?" Said Max, realizing he was being spoken to. "Oh, I'm eight." And then, just to be polite, "How old are you?"

"I'm seven, but I'll be eight in three months!" She announced proudly.

"Cool, we're almost the same age." Said Max absentmindedly. He was still consumed with gazing at Misty, but Emmie didn't notice and kept going.

"Do you like Pokemon?"

Now this was a topic that Max couldn't ignore, no matter how in love he was with Misty.

"Yeah, I love them! I read about them all the time, and I wanna be a trainer when I get old enough!"

"Really? Me too!" Emmie said, sitting up strait in her seat. But then she slumped over again and added, "But I don't think I can do it."

"Why not?"

"Well," she said, "I don't think I'd be very good. My brothers and sisters are always telling me I'm too little to play with them, so why should Pokemon be any different?"

Max smiled at how cute Emmie was. "I know how you feel. Ash and the others are all powerful trainers, but I don't have a single Pokemon. It's going to be really hard to get to their level. But I won't give up. I have to start somewhere, right? And we won't be little forever, you know. In a few years, you'll be a great trainer, Emmie!"

Emmie grinned from ear to ear. "You really think so?"

Max parroted the words that Misty had once said to him: "I know so."

His encouragement made her spirit soar. This was the first time anyone had expressed faith in her, and it was amazing how much hope it gave Emmie. But it wasn't so much what was said, but who said it. Max had to be the kindest, most caring person Emmie had ever met. She was in love for the first time in her life. The whole thing was a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. Emmie felt like leaping up and dancing across the floor, and it was all she could do to contain herself.

She glanced at Max, who had returned to gazing at Misty, and thought "I can't believe this is really happening! I'm going to tell him tomorrow."

Max was having similar thoughts about Misty.

"That's it, the next time I get her alone, I'm telling her." He thought.

Both dreamed of the moment when they could tell the ones they loved their secret.

Brock's house didn't stay clean for very long. After breakfast, his siblings were back at it. This time, they hit the kitchen. Food was splattered everywhere: on the yellow walls and tiled floor, the round wooden table, and even on Brock, who was washing dishes.

He turned around only when he was hit by a wad of scrambled eggs and yelled "Ok, freeze!"

Once again, all the kids stopped right where they were, but the kitchen light still swung in its place over the table. Brock sighed. It was going to take a long time to scrub everything down. And he hadn't even finished the dishes yet.

Just then, Ash, Misty, May, Max, and Pikachu walked in to see what was going on. When they saw the mess, they all sweat-dropped. All except for Pikachu, who spotted a puddle of ketchup on the floor and ran over to lick it up immediately.

"What happened here?" Ash asked.

"Just the usual." Said Brock sadly.

"Hey," May interjected, "I have an idea! Why don't we take all the kids out for ice-cream or something. That way, you won't be bothered while you're cleaning up."

This sounded like a great idea to Brock, who cried rivers of tears at his friends' kindness, and to his siblings, who were excited at the prospect of ice-cream.

They ran all over the place on the way to the ice-cream shop, and it was all Ash and his friends could do to keep track of them all.

Emmie hung at the back of the group with Max. She was very quiet, because she was trying to work up the courage to tell him how she felt.

"Come on, you can do it!" She told herself.

But it wasn't helping. She was still a nervous wreck. Her heart was pounding, and her legs felt like jell-o.

But in spite of her nervousness, she finally opened her mouth and said "Max, I have something important to tell you."

Her voice came out all squeaky, but there was no going back now.

"What?"

"I . . . um . . . I kinda . . . that is . . . I– I– I really really like you!"

Max seemed rather surprised at this confession, as he was blushing just as much as she was.

He had no idea of what to say. He didn't want to hurt Emmie's feelings, but he didn't feel the same way because he was in love with Misty.

"Gee, um, you're really nice and all, and I like you as a friend, but I just don't feel that way about you. I'm sorry."

Max felt guilty when he saw her face fall, but it couldn't be helped.

And Emmie was humiliated. The only person she'd ever liked had just turned her down. The embarrassment was bad enough, but the weight of being rejected was crushing. But she couldn't cry. Not yet. Not in front of Max.

So she forced a smile and managed "Oh, that's ok. It's not your fault. Can't help it if you don't like someone!" And then she ran off to the front of the group where her brothers and sisters were, leaving Max behind with his guilt.

They soon came to a small shop with red and white striped awning. Umbrellas that matched the awning sheltered round, white tables surrounded by chairs. The sign over the shop said "The Scoop". All of the kids ran wild with excitement. All except Emmie and Max. Emmie was walking a little behind her crazy siblings, crying. But they were too busy with running and screaming to notice.

Max was still at the very back of the group, and though he wasn't crying, he was still very down. Of course, no one could notice his emotion because no one could see him. Besides, Ash, Misty, and May were having enough trouble trying to keep control over Brock's siblings as it was.

So the two marched on in silence, alone and unnoticed. They got ice-cream like everyone else, but neither was eating.

Misty finally noticed Emmie, sitting all by herself, a chocolate mess running down her hand. She looked awfully depressed. Misty, feeling bad for the little girl, pulled up a chair beside her and sat down.

"Hey, you ok?" She said warmly.

Emmie looked up to see who was speaking. Seeing Misty, another girl, she decided it was safe to spill her secret. How could she have known that she was talking to her own rival? She ignored Misty's question and said carefully "Hey Misty, what do you do when you like a boy, but he doesn't like you back?"

"Good question. Let me know when you find out." Misty laughed.

But she regretted saying it when Emmie groaned and stared at her feet.

"Aw, cheer up, Emmie." She consoled. "If he doesn't like you, you've gotta make him like you!"

Emmie looked slightly confused. "How do I do that?"

"Let's see, they say the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Do you know how to cook?"

"No."

"Don't worry, I'll help you. When he tastes what you cook for him, he won't be able to resist you!"

Emmie seemed to cheer up a little at this. She smiled, sniffed, and then finished up what was left of her ice-cream.

Meanwhile, Ash had just begun to notice that Max was looking a little down. He sat down next to Max and started talking to him, just as Misty had done for Emmie.

"What's wrong, Max?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's just that . . . Ash, have you ever hurt someone's feelings without meaning to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what if a girl liked you, but you didn't like her back. What should you do?"

Ash hadn't the slightest clue what was going on. Some girl liked Max? Who? But at least Ash knew enough not to ask that.

Instead he asked "Why don't you like her back?"

"Well, she's a nice kid, but I'm only interested in mature women."

Ash couldn't help laughing at that remark.

Neither could he help remarking "If you're only interested in mature women, why do you like Misty so much?"

But he quit his fooling around as soon as he saw the glare Max was giving him.

"Must run in the family." Ash thought as he sweat-dropped.

Then he asked what Max had told the girl.

"I told her the truth." Max replied.

"What did she say?"

"She said that it wasn't my fault that I didn't like her."

Ash had to think about this one for a minute. He wasn't very used to dealing with girls, but it seemed to him that Max had done the right thing.

"She's right. You shouldn't tell a girl you like her if you don't. I don't think."

"Then why do I feel so bad?" Max scowled.

Ash wasn't quite sure how to answer that question, so he was glad when he caught one of Brock's brothers climbing a tree. It was a good excuse to get out of there, but poor Max was still confused.

On the return trip, the kids were even more hyper than they had been on the way there.

"Maybe we shouldn't have let them have so much sugar." May said, sweat-dropping. She felt a tug at her shorts, and looked down to see Adam, Brock's youngest sibling.

"Miss May," he said, "can you take us to the park? Please?"

"Good idea!" May exclaimed. "Maybe you can get rid of all that extra energy there."

So then it was off to the park, where the kids all climbed onto the playground equipment. Some got on the swings, some on the monkey-bars, and some on the slide.

but Max wasn't in the mood for playing. He had more important things to worry about. Like telling Misty that he loved her. He walked over to where she sat on a bench watching Brock's siblings play together and asked her if she'd like to take a walk with him.

Misty had a bad feeling about this. It was obvious that Max had a crush on her, and he seemed especially nervous right now. But she knew he was bound to say something sooner or later, and she was ready to get it over with. So she put on a smile and got up to walk the path through a small copse with Max.

While Misty walked with Max, Ash was helping May watch the children. They sat on another near by bench while the kids ran wild. But something seemed . . . missing.

"Hey May," Ash asked suddenly, "how many kids do you see?"

May counted silently to herself, but she only came up with five.

"Someone's missing!" She exclaimed worriedly.

"Don't worry. I'll go look for whoever's missing, you stay here and watch the others."

The first thing that needed to be done was to find out who was missing. Ash got up and walked down to the play scape. Scott was there, and so was Anna, and there were William and Laura on the swings, and Emmie was playing alone on the slide. So it had to be Adam, the youngest.

"Hey Anna!" Ash called to the oldest girl. "Do you know where Adam went?"

Laura pointed to a small wooded area and told Ash that Adam had been walking in that direction the last time she'd seen him. Ash thanked her and ran into the woods as fast as he could, calling for Adam all the way. But there was no response. He went farther and farther, but no Adam.

Then Ash heard voices coming from nearby, though neither of them were Adam's. But maybe whoever it was had seen the little boy come by.

The closer he got, the more familiar the voices seemed. Finally it dawned on Ash that one of them belonged to Misty, and the other to Max. What were they doing out here? They finally came into view, seated on a log in a little clearing, but Ash hid from them behind a tree. Something felt . . . funny. He knew he shouldn't be watching them like this, but he couldn't tear himself away.

"Misty," Max was saying. He sounded rather nervous. "Misty, I think you're really great. You're the most interesting girl I've ever known. And I think . . . I think I'm in love with you."

Misty wasn't surprised. She'd seen this coming a mile away, but she still wasn't quite sure what she should say to Max. But she had to say something.

"Aw, that's really sweet of you Max." She began slowly.

Max already knew though. He could tell by the expression on her face and the tone of her voice that she was going to reject him, but all he could do was listen. It was painful, but most of all, embarrassing. Max wondered if Emmie had felt the same way.

"You're a really nice kid and all, and I'm glad we're friends, but I just don't think of you that way."

"It's because of the age difference, right?" Max sniffed. "I'm really mature for my age though!"

Misty smiled sympathetically at the young boy. She knew that it must have been really for him to tell her, and she hated to hurt his feelings, but she would only end up hurting him more if she led him on.

"I know you are." She chuckled. "But I love someone else. I'm really sorry, Max. I know how bad unrequited love feels."

"You mean you love someone who doesn't love you back?"

Misty was kind of sensitive on the subject, but Max _was _really mature for his age. She knew she could trust him to keep a secret.

"Well, he doesn't really know how I feel."

"Why don't you tell him? You'll never know how he feels if you don't tell him."

Misty had to smile at Max's naivety.

"It's not that simple. He's one of my best friends, and if he didn't feel the same way, our friendship would be ruined. I can't let that happen."

Just then, a small voice came from behind.

"Hi Ash!" Adam bubbled.

Misty turned just in time to see a startled Ash jump from his place behind the tree and give a short yell.

"Ash?! What are you doing here?! How long have you been there?!"

Ash had a feeling that he was doomed no matter how he answered. So it wasn't a major loss when he couldn't think of any excuses.

"Um . . . I was just . . . you know . . . not long?"

"How much of that did you hear?!"

"Just . . . some of it."

"Ooh, Ash Ketchum, I'm gonna pulverize you!"

Ash knew it was high time he got out of there. He snatched up Adam and ran for his life. Unfortunately, Misty was already closing in on him.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" She called angrily.

Adam laughed as Ash increased his speed.

"At least one of us is having fun." Ash muttered.

They ran out of the woods and back onto the playground, Misty gaining on Ash the whole time. She reached out and grabbed the hood of his jacket just as they reached the swing-set. She pulled back her arm to hit Ash, but, fortunately for him, May intervened.

"Wait!" She called from the benches. "No violence in front of the children!"

Misty stopped in mid-slap and instead glared at Ash.

"I'll deal with you later!" She said harshly.

And then she dropped Ash's hood and let him fall to the ground while she stomped away to find Max.

Adam laughed and clapped his hands. Ash looked at him in a daze. He had forgotten that Adam was even there.

"Hey, why don't you go play on the slide with Emmie?" Ash suggested sweetly.

"Ok, bye-bye."

And then Adam left Ash to wonder exactly who Misty had been talking about. She had seemed so sad when she talked about it. It made Ash a little mad at whoever it was that had hurt her like that. What kind of idiot wouldn't love Misty in return? But wait, hadn't she said that he didn't know? Ash couldn't help feeling a little jealous, and he didn't understand it at all. Why should he care if Misty liked some other guy? It wasn't like _he _was in love with her or anything. Right?

_Notes:_

_1. I know you probably know better, but I feel I must say it anyway_, _just in case: never, EVER eat something if you're not absolutely, 100 sure of what it is. There is a plant called Water Hemlock that looks very much like Queen Anne's Lace, but it's deadly poisonous. There are a few differences, but it's best just not to try it._

_2. This is pretty common knowledge for those who are interested in Japan, and I know a lot of people who like Pokemon are, but tatami are rice mats used in home in Japan._


	7. Matchmakers

Chapter 7

Matchmakers

Misty wasn't speaking to Ash. Neither was May. The only thing Misty had told her when she asked what had happened was that Ash was an eavesdropping jerk, but she had a general idea of what had happened. Either Misty was trying to protect Max from further embarrassment, she had said something about Ash, or both. In any case, he had totally violated Misty's privacy, and as a girl, May could not excuse that.

So they trudged home in silence. Even Brock's siblings, who were usually bouncing off the walls, were quiet. They could sense the tension in the air, and they were also tired from a day full of running around and playing.

They sat in front of the TV when they got home, and didn't even have the usual argument over the remote. Ash too, was exhausted from taking care of so many children, so he flopped face-down onto his bunk bed. He didn't get to rest long though, because Max wanted to talk to him.

"Hey, Ash," Max said, "Do you have a minute?"

"You mean you're actually speaking to me?"

"Yeah, well, I'm still mad at you about earlier, but I can't talk to anyone else about this."

It was true. Max certainly couldn't talk to Misty after what had just happened, and Brock didn't have the best track record with girls. Besides, it was his sister. That would be too weird.

Ash sat up and paid attention. Whatever was bugging Max seemed pretty serious.

"Is it still about that girl?" Ash asked.

"Yeah. See, I only told her that I didn't like her because I thought I was in love with Misty. Now I realize that I _do _like her, but she probably hates me now! I feel so stupid!" Max sat on the bed next to Ash and put his face in his hands.

"You're not stupid, Max. Girls can be confusing sometimes. Heck, Misty confuses me all the time!"

"What am I gonna do?" Max wailed.

"Just be yourself." Ash counseled. "I'm sure she'll forgive you if you apologize."

"Right." Max said, finally looking up at Ash. "Don't you remember what happened the last time I liked a girl?"

"You mean Vivi?"

"Yeah. See what I mean? I don't know how to act toward girls, Ash, you gotta help me!"

The truth was, Ash was about as clueless as Max. But he did feel sorry for his small friend, and he understood what it felt like to have a girl mad at him. He understood that _very_ well. So he also understood that it was not easy to gain a girl's forgiveness, no matter how much he apologized.

"Ok, ok! Calm down!" Said Ash finally. "I just need some time to think about it. I'll tell you when I come up with something."

What he really meant was he needed time to ask Misty. She was a girl, so she would know, right? Even though she wasn't speaking to him, she probably wouldn't mind giving a little advice if it was to help a friend. At least, that's what Ash reasoned.

Max seemed satisfied with Ash's answer, because he calmed down considerably after that.

"Thanks, Ash." He said, and then he left the room.

Misty stood in the kitchen with Emmie, helping her kneed rice into little balls. Emmie gazed up at Misty in intimidation. She was pounding the rice rather violently, and it _was_ a little scary.

"I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him . . ." She thought.

But Misty's anger was understandable. Ash had heard her most private and closely-guarded secret. Even worse, it was about him!

"What if he figures it out?!" Misty knew that Ash wasn't exactly the sharpest tack in the box when it came to such matters, but she couldn't shake the thought. After all, there weren't too many people whom she considered her best friends. Or maybe he wouldn't figure it out.

But what if he guessed? What if he got suspicious? That was bad enough!

"Um, Misty? Are you ok?" Emmie squeaked. She cowered on the chair she was standing on, not sure how Misty would react.

Misty suddenly realized where she was.

"Stop thinking about that idiot!" She warned herself.

So she smiled and said "Of course, I'm fine! Now, where were we?"

"We were just about to add the tuna."

"Oh yeah. Here, hand me that knife and I'll cut it up so we can add it to the sushi."

Emmie did so, but a little warily. Misty did not seem to be in any condition to be wielding a knife. But Emmie was still glad that she was helping.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Emmie asked tentatively.

"Trust me, when he tastes this lunch, he won't be able to get enough of you!"

Just then the door swung open, and Ash entered the room, a serious expression on his face.

Misty turned around, but went right back to what she was doing as soon as she saw who it was. Emmie did the same, but only because she wasn't sure what Misty would do if she acknowledged his presence. Neither she nor Ash, given his denseness, had any idea that this had to do with her.

But Ash wasn't giving up that easily. "Aw, come on, Misty, you can't ignore me forever!"

"Watch me."

"But I really need to talk to you!"

Misty sighed. Why couldn't she just ignore him? After what he had done, she couldn't believe he had the nerve to even look at her. But even though she was still mad, she couldn't help worrying about him.

"What do you want?" Misty said as she turned back around and, thankfully for Ash, put the knife down.

"Well, it's about my friend." Ash began nervously. "See, he likes this girl, but he did something stupid and now she's really mad at him. How can he get her to forgive him?"

This sent Misty's mind reeling.

"What is he saying? He is talking about himself, right? And me? And he's saying that he _likes_ me? Really likes me?"

Ash didn't understand why it was taking so long for her to answer. It shouldn't be that hard of a question. Not for a girl anyway.

"Hello? Misty? Anybody home?"

"Oh, yeah, your friend, right. Let's see, um . . . he should, um . . . uh . . . I dunno, do something nice for her."

And why was she blushing so much?

"Like what?"

"Oh, you know. Buy her a present or . . . something like that."

"Well, what should he get her?"

By now, Misty was beginning to regain her composure. She still felt a little dizzy from the whole thing, but she managed to get her next answer out a little more quickly.

"It doesn't matter. I'm sure she'll love whatever you– I mean he– gets her, as long as it's from the heart."

Typical girl answer. How was that supposed to help?

"Yeah, but what should he _get_ her?"

Misty thought he'd never stop asking questions. She needed to get Ash away from herself before she did something stupid, like start giggling.

"Oh, I don't know, jewelry or something, now leave me alone, I'm busy here."

"Thanks, Mist, you're the best!"

"I'm still mad at you!" Misty called as Ash exited the room.

But that was a total lie. Now that the initial shock was wearing off, she was elated.

"I can't believe this is happening!" She thought joyfully. "But it is, it's finally happening. Ash just practically confessed that he loves me!"

And this joy was like nothing she had ever felt before. It made her feel like jumping up and down and screaming, made her want to laugh and cry, made her feel like she was floating. It felt like Christmas, or a sugar rush, only ten times sweeter. Misty was so happy that she thought she was going to burst. But she couldn't express her joy, not yet. Not until she was sure. And she was so used to denying it that it only seemed natural to hide it. But she was still grinning like an idiot.

Emmie had been patiently observing through the whole thing, but she still wasn't exactly sure of what was going on. Why was Misty so happy all of a sudden? A moment ago she had been sulking angrily, and now she was . . . singing to herself? Where did _that_ come from? Did it have to do with something Ash had said? But that didn't make any sense. He hadn't said anything to warrant that kind of reaction. Unless . . . unless it wasn't what was said, but who said it. Maybe Misty was happy because Ash was her boyfriend? Yes, that made sense. Still, she hadn't acted this way before when she was with him. It didn't add up. And the suspense was killing Emmie. She knew that to ask such a question of Misty in this state, whatever state that was, was to risk her own life, but she had to know.

"Hey Misty," she said cautiously, "is Ash your boyfriend?"

"NO!" Misty exploded. She wasn't angry, but her heightened emotions made all of her reactions stronger. "Of course he's not! Why on Earth would you think that?! It's crazy!"

"I dunno. You just seemed really happy to see him."

"Yeah, well . . . he's NOT my boyfriend!" And then, doing a complete one-eighty mood-wise "Could you please hand me the nori?"

"I think I liked her better when she was angry." Emmie thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Ash and Max walked the streets of Pewter in search of a jewelry store.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Max questioned.

"Trust me. Misty's a girl, so she should know."

"What does– wait, you asked Misty? I should've known you wouldn't have any idea what to do."

Ash just laughed, embarrassed. "Well, I thought that the best way to find out what girls like is to go strait to the source."

"Actually, you may have something there." Max said smartly.

The conversation ended when the pair reached "Pewter Promenade"– the town's open air mall.

There were shops of all kinds: a video store, a drug store, and a restaurant or two. But they were there for one thing, so they went strait to "Clampearl's Jewel".

Inside, there were glass cabinets filled with all sorts of necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, gold and silver all glittered beautifully in the dim store light.

"May I help you?" Said the woman behind the cash register.

She wore many jewels herself, and brightened her pale skin and light-blue hair quite nicely.

Max looked around the room, trying to decide exactly what he wanted to buy, but there was so much stuff!

"We want to buy something, but we're not sure what." Ash said. "What do you suggest?"

"Aw, buying for your girlfriend?" Gushed the girl behind the counter. "How sweet! Is this your little brother who's with you?"

Ash immediately started blushing and waving his hands in front of his face and making the whole situation more embarrassing than it had to be.

"No, it's for him! I mean his girlfriend! I'm his friend."

The girl wasn't listening anyway. She busied herself with finding a piece appropriate for an eight-year-old girl, and presently she pulled a couple of display cases filled with rings and necklaces out of the display counters.

"Why don't you take a look at these?" She said sweetly.

Max sifted through the gems, trying to make some kind of decision.

"I like this ruby one." He said, holding up gold chain with a ruby tear drop charm. And then, as an afterthought "Hey Ash, did you know that rubies are used in lasers?"

"No. That's pretty cool!"

"How much is it?" He asked the girl.

She consulted a thick binder full of prices that was lying on the desk.

"Let's see, that one is . . . ah, $89.99."

"Whoa!" Ash blurted. "That's a little expensive. I don't think we have that kind of money. Do you have anything a bit cheaper?"

"How much cheaper?"

"Hey Ash," Max whispered, "how much do you have?"

Ash pulled out his wallet and started counting his money.

"Five, ten, fifteen, eighteen dollars and some pennies. How much do you have?"

"I've only got twelve!" Max turned to the girl, and, quite embarrassed, asked "What do you have for $30?"

The girl, seeing that they weren't going to buy anything, lost her saccharin-sweet tone and pointed outside.

"You might want to try there." She said.

Ash and Max turned to see a giant egg machine on the sidewalk just outside the store.

"Oh, ok, thank-you." Said Max, knowing full well that he had been insulted, but not sure of what else to say.

"Sorry, Max." Ash said as they walked out.

"It's ok. Thanks for helping anyway."

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"What do _you_ think I should do?" Max answered. It was obvious that he admired the older boy, and valued his opinion.

"Well, Misty said that it doesn't matter what you get her, as long as it comes from the heart."

So Max got a quarter out of his pocket, and took the girl's advice, even if she had been only kidding. A pink egg rolled down the spiral tube in the machine and plunked into the prize slot. When Max popped it open, he found a cheap, but pretty, gold colored plastic ring with a plastic red jewel on it.

"I guess this will just have to do." He sighed.

The ring shone in the sunlight as Max held it up for Ash to see.

"Now, remember, you've gotta have confidence." Misty coached Emmie as she handed her the completed lunch.

"Confidence . . ."

"Right! Love is like a battle! You have to reach out for what you want and grab it! Faint heart never won fair . . . fellow? Something like that. You know what I mean. Now go get 'im!"

"Ok." She started to leave, but then hesitated.

"But shouldn't I wait? It's only noon, so it's not quite time for lunch."

"Emmie, just go!" Misty sighed. "The longer you wait, the harder it'll be. Good luck!"

Emmie still wasn't very sure about the whole thing, but she was willing to give it a try. What could it hurt? Besides, Max and the others would be leaving the next day, and then she would lose her chance, possibly forever.

Max was starting to rethink the whole thing.

"What if she hates me?" He cried.

"Don't worry. Just tell her how you feel." Reassured Ash. "She'll forgive you. And if she doesn't, that's her problem. It wouldn't be the end of the world."

"Ok, but would you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what it is?"

"Will you come with me?"

Rivers of nervous tears streamed down Max's face, so of course Ash couldn't refuse.

"But won't she be embarrassed if I'm there?"

"I know, you could hide somewhere." Max reasoned.

So five minutes later, Ash found himself hiding behind some bushes in Brock's back yard, watching as Max and Emmie sat on the porch. He felt strange watching them like this, but Max had asked, so it was ok, right? He was just about to settle in when he felt something, or someone, move in the bush next to him.

"Who's there?"

"Ash? What are you doing here?" Misty answered.

"I was, uh, what are you doing here?"

"Spying again? I knew it! Don't you ever learn?"

"Max asked me to! Besides, you're doing the same thing. Hippocrates!" Ash rebuked jokingly.

"Huh? Ash, you mean 'hypocrite'! It's not the same. I helped Emmie with this, so I deserve to see what happens. And why would Max . . ."

And then it hit her. Ash hadn't been talking about himself at all! He had been trying to help Max.

"Oh."

"I should have known!" Misty scolded herself. "Why did I have to jump to conclusions like that? How could I possibly think he'd figured it out? Stupid!"

Ash waited for Misty to volley another insult, and glanced at her when she didn't. He was confused to see her teary-eyed and blushing.

"Misty? What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Geez, why is everyone always asking me that?"

"So . . . are you still mad at me?"

Misty choked back her tears and looked at Ash. There was no way she could make herself angry at him again.

"Well, it was really sweet of you to help Max, so I guess not. Now be quiet, I can't hear what's happening!"

The two turned their attention to the goings on of the porch.

"Max, I made you lunch. Well, Misty helped. A little. I hope you like it!"

"Did you say Misty?" Max asked apprehensively. Though he'd never tried it himself, he had heard legends of Misty's cooking from Ash, and he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about trying it himself.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

But he didn't want to disappoint Emmie.

"No, nothing at all. I'm sure it's delicious!"

And so Max tried to keep a strait face as he took a bite of sushi. At least, it looked like sushi. But it sure didn't taste like any sushi he'd ever had. And he wasn't having an easy time keeping that strait face.

"What's wrong, don't you like it?" Emmie asked concernedly.

"Of course! It's great!"

But he wasn't fooling her. She picked up a piece and tried it for herself. And immediately spit it back into her hand.

"Bleah! This is awful! I'm so sorry Max! I should have tried it before I gave it to you!"

"No, it's ok, really! It doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy that you cared enough to make it for me. The taste isn't important."

"Really?" Said Emmie, cheering up a bit.

"Really. Besides, I'm the one who should be sorry. Emmie, I know I said I didn't like you like that, but now I know that I was wrong. I was confused because I thought I liked someone else, but she ended up turning me down, so I know how you must have felt when . . . but I think I just had a little crush on her. It wasn't like with you. Anyway, will you forgive me? I understand if you can't, but–"

But Emmie threw her arms around him before he could finish, knocking him to the ground.

"Oh Max," she cried, "of course I forgive you!"

And that was that. Almost. Max had almost forgotten something, but now he remembered.

"Oh, yeah, I have something for you. It's not much, but it was all I could afford. Sorry."

He then pulled the plastic ring out of his pocket. And Emmie couldn't have cared less that it was plastic.

"I love it!" She squealed. "Will you put it on me?"

Max did this, and it earned him a kiss on the cheek from Emmie, which he responded to with a hot blush.

"Aw, that's so sweet! I wish I had a boyfriend who would treat me like that!" Misty whispered dreamily from the bushes.

"What about–" Started Ash, but then he remembered that the subject of that guy Misty liked was probably taboo and clapped his mouth with his hand. Misty gave him a suspicious look, but didn't say anything.

"Oh well." She thought. It was time for her to let go of her disappointment. "Easy come, easy go. But you'd better look out, Ash Ketchum, because one of these days, I'm gonna make you mine."

"We'd better leave now if we want to beat the midday sun." Brock said as he checked his watch.

He stood in front of his house between his family and his friends, getting ready to say good-bye.

"We'll miss you, Brock!" Cried his father, but no one laughed. It was understandable. Now that Brock was leaving again, he'd have to do all the chores and take care of all six of the kids.

"And I'll miss you, Max." Said Emmie. "Here, I want you to have this before you leave."

She handed Max her handkerchief which was pale pink, and embroidered with blue and purple Beautiflies.

He and Ash gazed at it, both bemused. Max because he didn't know what to say, and Ash because he was remembering a certain girl who had given him her handkerchief.

"It couldn't be? Could it? No, of course not. She has that other guy, whoever _he_ is." So Ash brushed the thought off as quickly as it had entered his mind.

"Um, thank-you." Max said quickly.

"You'd better come back sometime!"

"I will, I promise!"

Emmie and Max embraced, and then Emmie gave Max another peck on the cheek, getting the same reaction as before. Parting was sad, but they smiled and waved through their tears as Max and his friends moved farther and farther away, until they could no longer see each other. After all, it wasn't good-bye forever.

And then another thought came to Max. "Ash never stopped thinking about Misty. He told me himself. It won't be any different with Emmie and me."

And he was right.

_And so ends my Max/Emmie(or as someone on Serebii called it, Siblingshipping) arc. It turned out better than I had expected, although this chapter was a bit shorter than I would have liked. That thing with Misty getting confused about what Ash was talking about just came out of nowhere. Hope you enjoyed that part. And I hope you enjoyed this arc. For those who didn't, it's out of the way, so I can move on. Thanks to everyone for reading! I wasn't sure if this was uh, proper etiquette here, but other people do it, so from now on I'm giving out personal messages to each of my reviewers. Oh, and happy New Year!_

_lito-passion: I'm so relieved you thought that was good! I thought it wouldn't do so well as it detracts from the AaML parts some. So thanks!_

_Spazzfire: Yes, Ash is dense. Which is good, because it makes it easy to create lots of confusion in my fic. Oh, and you're welcome!_

_Chibi-Suiko: Oh, go on! You're going to give me an inflated ego! But I'm glad you think that I keep everyone in character. And that you thought I got enough drama, affection, and humor into chapter 6. Oh, and I already Pmed you on Serebii about that last item, which you well know._

_Ghost: Thank-you for saying so! I'm glad you liked all the Max/Emmie stuff, and the part you mentioned about Misty almost telling Max about Ash. And I hope I can keep getting better too! For my sake, I mean._

_Funkyafroman: Thank-you for the compliments! I appreciate your review. I'll keep trying to get better, so I hope you keep reading!_

_Vulpix4life: Thank-you for your review. I appreciate your continued support(I sound like a fundraiser on a public broadcasting station! But I mean it!)_

_Lightning-cloud: Hi! Good to see you here! Glad you liked chapter 6, and I will definately continue. Thanks for all the encouragement!_

_Zoe: Good, you thought it was cute. That's exactly what I was going for in this fic. I hope you keep reading, and thanks for your review!_

_Story Weaver1: Yeah, I thought they were a bit rushed too, but I didn't want to take too much time on them because I want to keep the focus on the AaML. I would have liked to work more with it though. But I'm glad you still thought it was cute. Thanks!_

_Notes:_

_1. Nori- Japanese name for dried seaweed. A common ingredient in Japanese and other Asian foods, and always used in sushi._


	8. A Sacrifice

Chapter 8

A Sacrifice

_It's going to get a little more serious in this chapter, but it's about time for that, I think. I feel like the comedy is getting a little old, so even though I know most of you enjoy it, I'm going to take a break from it for a chapter or two. _

The hot sun beat down on the four weary travelers. It was only eleven in the morning, yet already the temperature was in the high-eighties. They weren't walking so much as they were trudging, and the grassy plains offered few trees that could provide shade.

"It must be over a hundred degrees out here! How long have we been walking?" Ash complained.

"Well, we walking at nine, so I guess about two hours." Replied Brock tiredly.

"Only two hours! It seems like we've been going all day!"

Misty rolled her eyes at her friend. "Ash, would you stop whining? It's not helping anything and I'm sick of hearing it!"

Ash started to say something back, but Brock, always the mediator, cut him off.

"Not now guys." He said. "It's way too hot for that."

"Pika . . ." Pikachu agreed, its ears drooping from exhaustion.

Neither Ash nor Misty had the energy to retaliate, so they walked on in silence.

They were all ready to take a break, but they kept going because Viridian Forest was not far away, and then there would be plenty of shade and they could rest comfortably. But Ash was getting more and more impatient. The forest was right ahead of them, but the dirt path that they were following was curvy and long.

"Hey guys, why are we walking on this stupid path?" He said. "It would be a lot quicker to just cut through the grass."

"Yeah, but there are wild Pokemon in the grass." Stated Misty.

"So? Nothing I can't handle."

"That's nothing to brag about, Ash. Any of us could beat the Pokemon around here, but it's a pain."

"Well, so is this heat! And the sooner we get to Viridian Forest, the sooner we can find some shade. Come on!"

Misty wanted to protest, but Ash had already started into the grass, so all she could do was to follow.

The tall grass brushed her skin and made her legs itch, compounding her misery from the heat. Misty looked over at May, and it was apparent from her sour expression that she was having the same problem.

"Ash, can't we please turn back?" Misty pleaded. "This grass is so itchy!"

"Yeah, I can't stand it!" May agreed.

"It's not bothering me." Said Ash smugly.

"Of course not, you're wearing jeans. May and I are miserable!"

"Stop whining!"

"Ash Ketchum, don't make me– OW!"

Misty stopped short when she felt a sharp pain in her ankle. She looked to see what the cause of the pain was, but there was nothing but a rustle in the grass as something unseen crawled away.

"What's wrong, Misty?" Ash asked worriedly.

"Something bit me," she replied, "but I'm sure it was nothing."

"Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. It's nothing."

But she was glad that Ash had been worried about her.

Misty then lifted her leg and grabbed her ankle in her hand so she could inspect the wound. Two small teeth marks, painful, but not serious. She wiped away a trace of blood, and the group resumed walking toward the forest.

But soon Misty began to feel funny. The first thing she noticed was that it was getting hot. Well, hotter than it had been before. She ignored it though, assuming it was just the weather.

It was harder to ignore the dizziness that she felt a moment later. Suddenly, the ground seemed to be moving, and Misty was finding it hard to keep her balance. She was starting to get short winded too, and then her heart began racing. Misty began to realize that something was wrong.

"Ash . . ." she said weakly, ". . . can we stop and rest?"

"What's the matter, tired already?" Ash smirked, but he turned to face Misty when she didn't come back with a smart comment.

He hadn't realized that she'd fallen so far behind. And she really did look tired. Her face was pale, her eyes were dull, and she was gasping for air. She looked as if she'd just run a marathon.

"Misty? You ok?"

Misty could hear Ash, but she couldn't get the meaning of his words. It was getting hard to see through the dark spots that had appeared before her eyes, and she could barely feel her body as she began to fall. She heard Ash call her name, and the last thing she remembered was the feeling of relief at falling into his arms instead of onto the hard ground.

Hearing Ash's cry, the others spun around to see him kneeling on the ground, cradling Misty's motionless form in his arms.

"What's wrong!" May shrieked. "Is she ok!"

"I don't know! She just collapsed! And she's burning up!"

"Everyone just calm down!" Said Brock, ever the voice of reason. "The first thing we need to do is get her out of the sun."

So Ash lifted Misty and he and the others looked for anything that could provide a little shade. The first thing they came to was a large oak tree, standing alone standing alone above the grass, and the group quickly made their way toward it.

Ash sat and laid Misty down, her head lying on his lap.

Then something suddenly occurred to Max.

"Hey, didn't she say she got bitten by something earlier?"

Ash didn't see the connection. "So?" He said.

"So she could have been poisoned or something! Where did she get bitten?"

"On her ankle I think."

Max crouched next to Misty and inspected the two teeth marks on her ankle. Then he pulled a book out of his backpack and began searching for an identical mark.

"Here it is!" He exclaimed. "I knew it! Misty must have been bitten by an Ekans! Let's see, 'Symptoms include: fever, rapid pulse, dizziness, and nausea."

"Well, what does it say we should do!" Yelled Ash frantically.

"Hm . . . it says that it can be treated with an antidote or any poison curing berries. Do we have any of that stuff?"

Everyone turned and looked at Brock for an answer as he was the unspoken manager of the group's medicine bag.

"I don't think we do, but I'll check just to make sure."

He proceeded to dump out all the contents of his backpack, desperately trying to find what he needed. But there was no antidote to be found.

And then Max looked very concerned. He looked back at his open book and read aloud "Treatment is imperative within the first fifteen minutes after the bite or . . ."

"Or?" Ash asked bluntly.

Max only starred at Ash, but his terrible message got across clear enough. Ash felt like he had just been hit by one of Pikachu's thunderbolts.

"No . . . we can't let that happen! There's got to be something we can do!"

"Wait," May broke in, "I think I have some Pecha berries left over from the last time I made Pokeblocks. Let me check!"

She went to unzip her fanny pack and withdraw three or four of the pink berries.

"This is all I have left, is it enough?"

Max shook his head solemnly. "No, but it'll buy us some time."

Ash took the berries from Misty and then shook Misty's shoulder ever so gently. To his relief, she stirred and opened her eyes a little.

"What . . . happened?" She asked.

Ash, though he himself was scared, did not want to worry Misty, so he replied "You passed out. Must have been the heat. How do you feel?"

"A little better, I guess."

"At least she's not suffering any." Ash thought.

And her symptoms did seem better. She was breathing normally again, and she wasn't so hot anymore. Ash guessed that the shade and rest had helped.

"Here Mist, eat these." He said, handing her the Pecha berries. "It should make you feel better."

Misty accepted and ate them, even though the sugary sweetness made her feel like puking. She closed her eyes tight, trying to ward off the sickness, but was soon fast asleep.

Ash gazed worriedly into her pale face.

"Now what do we do?"

"We really need to get her to a hospital or a Pokemon Center." Brock said.

"But we're in the middle of nowhere! The nearest Pokemon Center is in Pewter City, and that's at least two hours away! We don't have time!"

"Stay calm, Ash." Said Brock sternly. "You're not helping Misty by panicking. May and I will go back to the road and look for help. Maybe someone will have a phone in their Pokenav that we could use to call for help."

"What about me?" Max jumped in, wanting to help too.

"You stay here with Ash and take care of Misty. You have better medical knowledge than any of us, so you should be here in case anything happens."

Ash shivered, not wanting to think of the anything that could happen, and then Brock and May left.

" . . . Ash?"

Ash left his thoughts and looked down at Misty, who had awoken again.

"Yeah?" He spoke gently.

"I'm really thirsty, can I have some water?"

"Sure."

He took out his canteen and held her up, and placed it near her lips. She drank the water gratefully, and then Ash laid her back down.

"Don't worry," he said, "Brock and May went to find help."

Misty could tell he was worried, but she knew that he was trying not to worry her, so she nodded and pretended that she believed it.

Ash did the same. He felt so hopeless. How were Brock and May supposed to find someone way out there? And even if they did get help, he doubted that they could get back in time. And there was nothing he could do to help her. This was what frustrated Ash the most. All he could do was sit and wait while Misty slowly faded. And worst of all, it was his fault. The guilt was almost overwhelming. If he hadn't made her take that short cut, none of this would have ever happened. Ash couldn't even imagine what it would be like if she were . . . if he could never . . . the mere thought made a painful, empty feeling rise in his chest. Ash tried to keep his composure, but he couldn't stop the tears that formed in his eyes, couldn't stop them from rolling down his face and falling onto Misty's.

She smiled as she said "Ash, it's ok . . . I'm fine . . . ", but she couldn't hide the pain she was feeling.

"Just hang on." He told her.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. And Misty wasn't getting any better. Her earlier symptoms were returning, and all Ash could do was to watch over her while she slipped in and out of consciousness. He looked to Max for help, but without medical supplies, there was nothing the book could do to help them. "Don't worry Ash, Brock and May will be back soon." Max encouraged, but it sounded like he was trying to comfort himself more than Ash.

Ash had all but given up hope, but he felt there was something he had to tell Misty. He wasn't quite sure what that something was though. It was a feeling, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find the words to describe it. But he didn't have time to think about it, so in desperation, he blurted out the first words that came to mind.

"Misty, I . . . I–"

But Ash could finish, a large shadow appeared where he, Misty, and Max were sitting. When he looked up, his eyes were met by the familiar site of a Meowth-shaped balloon.

"Team Rocket!" He yelled. "What are you doing here!"

"That's what we should be asking you!" Jessie called back.

"Yeah, we waited for you for fifteen minutes and you never showed up!" James added.

"How are we supposed to steal Pikachu when Pikachu ain't there!" Meowth yelled.

Infuriated by their intrusion at such a moment, Ash started to yell "Leave us alone, this isn't a good time!"

But he only got half way through the sentence, because suddenly, he was struck with an idea. It had to work, it just had to! It was Misty's last chance.

"Hey, what's wrong with her?" Asked Jessie, just noticing Misty's condition.

Ash didn't answer her question, but instead yelled back "Team Rocket! We need a ride!"

"What are you talking about?" Jessie replied.

"Misty's really sick and she needs help, but we're in the middle of nowhere. Please, you have to take us to a Pokemon Center or something!"

A wry smile formed on Jessie's face. Unfortunately for Ash, he wasn't the only one who had an idea.

"We'll give you a ride," she said, "if you give us Pikachu."

"Ooh, what a brilliant plan, Jessie!" James squealed.

Ash, however, was not as impressed.

"What!" He yelled.

"That's right, twerp!" Meowth responded. "We don't give no free rides!"

Ash hung his head and gritted his teeth. This was one of the hardest decisions he had ever had to make. Normally, he would've just had Pikachu launch a thunderbolt at them, but that could damage the balloon. What if they were lying? No, there was no easy solution to this dilemma. He didn't want to give up Pikachu, of course, but if he didn't Misty would die. But Ash knew that he had to do it. He was taking a chance, trusting Team Rocket, but it was a chance he couldn't afford not to take.

"Are you nuts?" Ash heard Max scream. "Ash would never–"

"Ok."

"What! Ash, you can't!"

"I have to!"

"Yay!" Jessie cheered. "James, take us down!"

"Right!"

Jessie leapt out of the balloon the instant the basket touched the ground and bounded toward Pikachu.

"We're finally getting Pikachu!" She sang.

Pikachu stared at Ash forlornly, not sure of what to do while Jessie bent over with her arms outstretched.

"Pika . . ."

"I'm sorry, Pikachu, but I don't have any other choice!" Ash cried as he wiped away his tears.

So Pikachu reluctantly obeyed and let Jessie pick it up and carry it back to the balloon where James was waiting with an electricity-proof glass case. Ash followed, carrying Misty, while Max just stood still and watched in shock.

"What do I do!" He called to Ash.

"Stay here and wait for Brock and May!"

Ash got into the balloon with Team Rocket and sat down, cradling Misty in his arms, and then they were off.

"You'd better not be tricking us!" Ash said angrily.

"Chill out, kid." Retorted Jessie. "We may be thieves, but we keep our promises."

"Where is the nearest Pokemon Center, Meowth?" James asked.

"We're right in the middle of the road that connects Pewta and Viridian, but it'd be quicker to get to Viridian 'cause of the tail wind."

"Well, Viridian it is then."

Pikachu stared miserably from its glass prison, but Team Rocket seemed less concerned about it than the girl lying on the floor of the basket.

"What happened to her, anyway?" Jessie asked, trying to sound indifferent.

"She got bitten by a wild Ekans." Replied Ash solemnly.

It was quiet the rest of the way to Viridian. Ash was worried about Misty, and Team Rocket was having second thoughts about the method they had used to capture Pikachu.

"We would've gotten Pikachu sooner or later anyway, what difference does it make?" Jessie thought.

But it did make a difference. A big difference. No matter she tried to deny it to herself, Jessie knew that it was wrong to take advantage of the twerps like that. She looked to James, who was obviously struggling with similar thoughts.

After what seemed like hours, the balloon touched down just in front of the Virginian Pokemon center. Ash picked Misty up once again and, glancing back at Pikachu one last time, dashed inside.

Team Rocket watched him go, but they made no move to leave after he disappeared. James bent over and lifted the glass case containing Pikachu. He gazed into it wistfully, trying to decide what to do next. He knew what he should do, but Jessie and Meowth would absolutely kill him if he did it. But it didn't matter what they thought. This was not right. So James released the case and let it fall to the ground where it shattered into a thousand pieces.

"Oops. How c-lumsy of me!" He squealed as Pikachu ran away.

"James, you idiot!" Jessie raged. She hit James hard over the head, but inside, she was glad he had done it. So was Meowth, but he did as Jessie had and feigned anger.

"You good for nothing human!"

When Meowth was finished, James had scratch marks covering his face.

"I'm sorry!" He cried.

Pikachu ran into the Pokemon center as fast as its legs would carry it. Normally, it would have stayed a few minutes and given Team Rocket a thorough shocking, but right now it was too worried about Ash and Misty to think about them. After entering the automatic doors to the center, Pikachu found Ash huddled in one of the blue overstuffed chairs in the white waiting room.

"Pika!" It yelled.

"Pikachu!" Ash replied as Pikachu jumped into his arms. "How did you get away from Team Rocket?"

"Chu pika pikachu, ka pi pika!"

Ash could not understand what Pikachu was saying, but the details didn't matter. He was just glad to have Pikachu back.

"I'm so sorry I had to do that, buddy. You know I would've rescued you, right?"

Pikachu understood. It knew that Team Rocket would not have really harmed it, but Misty had been in real danger.

"Pi pika!" It chirped.

Five minutes later, Ash sat holding Pikachu while he fought back the tears that threatened to spill. He was trying to be optimistic, but he was failing miserably. Nurse Joy had taken Misty what seemed like an hour ago, and still there was no news. What was taking so long! Ash didn't want to think about it. He stood up and began pacing back and forth on the red carpet, trying to ward off the horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. But it wasn't working. Just when Ash felt like he couldn't take it anymore, the red light above the door of the emergency room flickered off and Nurse Joy came out.

Instead of waiting for Nurse Joy to say something, Ash ran up to her, almost knocking her over, and almost yelled "IsMistygonnabeok!"

Nurse Joy just smiled and folded her hands.

"She'll be just fine now. All she needs is a little rest." She said sweetly.

Ash sighed and wiped away the tears of relief that were flowing down his cheeks.

"But you're lucky you got her here when you did." Nurse Joy continued. "I hate to think about what would have happened if you had been much later."

"Can I see her?" Ash asked.

"Of course. But you'll have to be quiet. She's sleeping, and she needs her rest."

Then Nurse Joy led Ash down a starch white hall and into Misty's equally white room. She smiled before leaving, and then Ash was alone with Misty.

He approached her bed quietly so as not to wake her. It was such a relief to see her safe and sound. But there was something that confused Ash. It was the words he had tried to say to Misty just before Team Rocket arrived. He had almost told her that he loved her.

"Where did that come from?" He thought.

He hadn't thought before he spoke, he just said it. Or, almost said it.

"Why would I say that? I don't love her, do I? Not like that."

But it got Ash thinking about it. Misty was his friend, but no one made him feel the way that she did. Sometimes when he was with Misty, Ash was a nervous wreck. Not all the time of course. Just . . . sometimes. Sometimes she made him feel excited and happy all over and he didn't know why. Like when she laughed a certain way, or like that time at Maiden's Peak, when she'd asked him to dance with her. She had looked so pretty that night, in her pink yukata, her hair down . . .

But Ash didn't have that feeling now. Now he felt a very serene happiness. It was so good to see Misty sleeping peacefully after all she had been through that day. He noticed that a few strands of her hair were out of place, and without even thinking, he reached down to brush them off her face. But then she stirred and opened her eyes. Ash jerked back his hand just in time, cursing himself for being so careless.

"Hi Ash." She said sleepily.

Ash was still blushing with embarrassment, but he managed to say "Hi" in return.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, lots."

"Good. You had me really worried. I'm so sorry."

"For what?"

"For this! You told me in the very beginning that you didn't want to walk through the grass, but I made you go anyway. If it weren't for me, you would never have gotten bitten by that Ekans."

But Misty just laughed at his conclusion. He'd even forgotten that he hadn't told her the whole truth of what had happened.

"Ash, that's ridiculous! You couldn't have known."

"Yeah, but–"

"Hey, if I said it wasn't your fault, then it wasn't your fault, so quit talking about it!" Misty yelled, scaring Ash a little, but absolving him of his guilt.

"Whatever you say." He said as he backed away.

At that moment, the door opened and Nurse Joy entered.

"Ash, you have a phone call." She said.

So Ash left Misty for the time being and followed Nurse Joy back down the hall to the video phone. On the other end were Brock, May, and Max.

"Hey Ash." Said May. "Max told us what happened, and Nurse Joy just told us about Misty. We're all really glad she's ok."

"Where are you guys?" Ash questioned.

"We're back at the Pewter Pokemon Center. It would have taken us at least a day to get through Viridian Forest." Brock responded.

"That's ok."

"Thanks. We should be able to make it to Viridian by tomorrow night." Informed Max.

"Great. Hey, I did get Pikachu back!"

"Oh, I'm so glad!" May gushed. "I was worried."

"You don't have to worry about Pikachu. It can take care of itself!" Ash laughed.

"I know." Giggled May. "So we'll see you tomorrow night then?"

"Right. Be careful in Viridian Forest!"

"We will."

Then they all said good-bye, and Ash was left alone to wonder if it was possible that he really could be in love with Misty.

_Itoshii Haruko: Hey, I can see that song going with that part! Cute! Anyway, glad you liked the romantic comedy. I'm always like that too!_

_Babie A: Thanks! It's good that you got my humor, like I've said, sometimes I worry that I'm the only one who gets it. Sorry for keeping you waiting on chapter 8 so long!_

_Chibi Ami-Yumi: Thank-you! I'm glad you thought it was funny. And I know it was predictable, but I didn't see any way around it. But whatever. Drastic? I have fans that would do something drastic? Cool!_

_Gigi: Wow, Brazil! Cool! Anyway, thanks for reading! Yes, I love it when Ash gets jealous too. It's so cute! Oh, and I'm talking about in general, not in my fic. Don't wanna sound conceited!_

_Vulpix4Life: You really think this was one of my best? Thanks! And hey, don't worry about the length of your chapters. It takes awhile to get good at length. I think. I still have trouble sometimes trying to make it long enough. Thanks again!_

_Catstar: Thanks, I'm glad you love it so much! It's good to hear people say that my fic is one of their favorites. That makes me so happy! Anyway, sorry for keeping you waiting for chapter 8 so long, hope you enjoyed it!_

_Funkyafroman: Thanks for your loyalty! It's good to know that people stick with my fic. Thanks!_

_Story Weaver1: Me either! Thanks for saying it was sweet. It's funny, I didn't think of the whole "my friend" thing until I was already writing it. Glad you liked it, and I'm glad you liked the siblingshipping too._

_psheartslie: Oh, you're welcome! Thank-you for all the encouraging things you said, I really appreciate it. Yeah, too bad Ash is so dense, but that's what makes it fun! IMO anyway. It's so cute in the show! Anyway, hope you liked chapter 8!_

_lito-passion: Sorry it took me so long! Glad you think it's cute. Yeah, it'll still be a couple of chapters before that happens, but I'm building up to it! Thanks for reviewing._

_JA93: Thank you so much! It was a little weird, but I'm glad you liked it anyway. Thanks for reviewing!_

_Aidail: Yes, Ash is very dense. But what I have found about these kinds of fics is dense funny._

_Unless you're Misty, lol. Thanks!_

_Chaos-Paladin: Thanks! I'm probably only going to do two or three more chapters, but this is definately not my last fic. I'm going to try to throw May into the next chapter, and I'll try to get Brock in on it too!_

_Moogle Girl: Thanks! Once again, sorry it took me so long to get chapter 8 out.! Rainbow monkey doll . . . Anyway, your little sweat-drop character is so cute, but when you're writing a fic, you really need to write stuff like that out. But thanks for the idea anyway!_


	9. Jealousy

Chapter 9

Jealousy

By the time Brock, May, and Max reached Viridian, Misty was feeling much better. Ash, however, hadn't quite recovered from his experience. He was still thinking about whether he was in love with Misty.

"How am I supposed to know if I'm in love if I don't even know what love feels like?" He thought.

There seemed to be no answers. So Ash decided to consult an expert.

May was enjoying the warm sunshine and daydreaming as she and the others walked. She was glad that they were almost to Pallet Town. Then they could finally take a break from all this traveling! She was looking forward to seeing all of Professor Oak's Pokemon, swimming in the ocean, and just relaxing for a while . . .

"May! Hey May!"

May came out of her daydream and found Ash whispering to her. Whatever it was, he looked kind of nervous.

"What?" May asked.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Well, you know a lot about love, right?"

Now May's curiosity was piqued. If there was one thing she knew about, it was love.

"You bet!" May said happily. "So what do you need to know?"

"Um, I was kinda wondering, what . . . what it feels like when you er, fall in love."

"Ash, you think you're in love with someone! Who is it! It's Misty, isn't it! That is so cute!"

"Huh? No way! I was just curious!" Ash stumbled.

"Oh come on Ash, your secret's safe with me. Just tell me!"

"But there's nothing to tell!"

"Ash, you're a terrible liar. And I'm not gonna help you unless you tell me who it is."

Under different circumstances, Ash would have never told May in a million years, but he didn't know who else to turn to. And he couldn't stand the ambiguity of his feelings. So he finally conceded.

"Well, maybe I like Misty. A little. I think."

"Eeee! I knew it! You're perfect for each other!" May squealed.

"Hey, keep it down, do you want her to hear!"

But Misty had already heard. Sort of. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see Ash stuttering on about something that was obviously embarrassing for him, and May chattering and giggling like she was drunk. From where Misty was standing, this did not look good.

"So, how does she make you feel?" May interrogated.

"Uh, I don't know?" Ash said unsurely.

"What do you mean you don't know! You think you're in love with this girl and you don't even know how she makes you feel!"

"Well, uh, it's just . . . hard to describe."

"Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

"Well, I guess sometimes she makes me nervous. And other times, she makes me really mad."

"Anything else?"

"Um . . . I feel . . . happy when I'm with her. So what does that mean?"

"Sure sounds like you're in love to me!" May giggled.

Ash said nothing, but sweat-dropped and turned bright-red.

Misty was fighting back tears as she watched Ash and May together.

"But I thought May liked that other guy she mentioned that time, Drew . . . why didn't I notice this before?" She thought sadly.

And she was angry too. Angry at Ash, angry at May.

"The nerve of her, hanging all over Ash like that! And he doesn't seem to mind either!"

But even as she thought these things, Misty knew that she had no right to be mad at either of them. She didn't own Ash. He was free to be with whomever he liked. And May wasn't doing anything wrong. How could she know how Misty felt about Ash? Misty knew that she had no one to blame but herself. She had the chance every day to tell Ash how she felt, but she never took that chance.

"And even if I had told him," Misty thought, "why would Ash love me back? I'm mean to him all the time, and let's face it, I'm not exactly a beauty queen."

But it wasn't that easy. Even if it wasn't May's fault, Misty couldn't help but feel jealousy toward her. How could she not? The person she loved more than anything was being stolen from her right before her eyes, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. Not without revealing herself. And besides, it was too late now. From the looks of it, Ash and May were already making wedding plans.

"Are you sure I'm in love with Misty?" Ash asked May for the fifteenth time. Although May had said yes fourteen times before, he couldn't get his mind around the idea.

"Ash, I don't know!" May retorted, exasperated. "No one can tell you if you're in love! It's different for everybody, you have to figure it out on your own! But you sure do seem to care about her. Just trust your heart. If you think you're in love with her, then you probably are."

Ash went silent as he contemplated his emotions. He certainly felt something for Misty. Was it love? The more he thought about it, the sure he became that it was.

"I think . . . I think you're right." Ash said thoughtfully.

"Me too! So when are you gonna tell her?" May asked, actually anticipating an answer.

"Tell her! Why do I have to tell her!"

Sometimes May could not believe how dense this kid was.

"How else is she supposed to know?" She pointed out.

"But what if she doesn't feel the same way? It could ruin our friendship!"

"Aw, that's so cute how you're worried about risking your friendship with her!" May cooed. "But I don't think you have to worry about that. I'm sure she likes you, Ash. I've had a feeling that she did for a long time."

Ash didn't reply. He couldn't tell May what Misty had said. It was too painful. Misty already loved someone else. There was no way she was going to love him. It was ironic, Misty was having the same problem. Hadn't she said that the one she loved would never feel the same way about her? Because they were friends? It was exactly the same predicament. And she had sounded so sad when she said those things. A part of Ash wanted the one she loved to love her back, just so she wouldn't have to hurt anymore. But another part of him knew that it would be crushing to have to see her with another boy. And Ash couldn't decide which of these sides was stronger. In either case, he was pretty sure that he didn't like this guy, whoever he was.

Meanwhile, Brock and Max were totally oblivious to the drama going on behind them. Brock could hear May giggling at Ash, but he assumed that she was just teasing him about Misty again. And he wasn't too far off. Brock wasn't about to stop her. Ash was possibly the densest person he had ever known, but maybe a little teasing would get it through his thick skull. He would have been shocked to learn that Ash had already figured it out, but that was exactly what had happened.

Misty stared dreamily into the campfire. Her mind was plagued by memories of that afternoon: Ash blushing at May, May laughing with Ash, it was what she had dreaded all along. But it was funny, even though she had feared this, she could barely believe it was happening.

"What am I going to do?" Misty despaired.

It hurt just being around Ash now. Being in his presence just reminded her of everything she loved and needed, but could not have. Every time she looked at him, she thought of earlier that day, and she had to look away just to keep from crying. Misty knew that she couldn't continue traveling with him like this. But she also knew that if she left him, she would miss him like crazy. One solution was just as bad as the first, and there seemed to be no way out. And though she would have done anything to change the situation, it was impossible. In Pokemon, if a trainer isn't strong enough, he can to train to get better. But in love, it is not so simple. Misty knew this. She knew that no matter what she did, she could not make Ash love her. She stared at Ash and May sitting together on the grass and eating across from her. It was almost more than she could bear. Finally, May noticed Misty's glare.

"Hey Misty, you ok?" She asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask Ash?" Misty snapped back.

"Huh?"

Misty regretted her words when she saw the look of hurt and confusion on May's face. She felt guilty for being angry at May at all. She had done nothing to deserve such cruelty.

"I'm sorry, May." Misty said, her expression softening. "It's not your fault."

But this remark did nothing to help May's confusion.

"What's not my fault?"

"Nothing. It's nothing."

"What's with you, Misty?" Ash asked curtly.

"Nothing, I think maybe I just need some time alone." Said Misty, a little too cheerily.

Ash could see right through her fake smile, and now he felt guilty for snapping at her like that.

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Why does everyone keep asking me that! Oh . . . sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I'm going down to the river for a while. I'll be back later."

Misty put down her food, which she had barely eaten, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and left.

"Nice going, Ash." May criticized.

Ash started to get up and follow Misty but Brock stopped him.

"Ash, don't." He said. "She wants to be alone, so let her."

Now that she was alone, Misty allowed herself to cry. It had been so hard trying to act normally in front of Ash, and now it all just came pouring out. There seemed to be another tear for every second she had hurt that day. But crying didn't seem to be helping. For every tear shed, there were ten more to take its place. Misty stared into the rushing river. Something seemed familiar about this place. And then she realized it. It was in this very spot that she had met Ash for the first time.

"I wish I had never even met Ash Ketchum!"

But even as she said this, Misty knew it wasn't true. Ash had opened up a whole new world for her. He taught her what it meant to truly love someone. When she thought back to her life before she met Ash, she realized how simple it had been. Loving him had brought her so much joy and depth of emotion, and that far outweighed pain he had caused. And perhaps whatever was going on between him and May was mere infatuation. Misty was calmed by this revelation, and was finally able to stop crying. But she still wasn't ready to go back, so she sat with her head on her knees, gazing into the water.

It was getting late, but Misty still wasn't back. Ash was starting to worry.

"Ash," May said, pulling out her sleeping bag, "can you go get Misty? It's pretty late."

Ash, glad for an excuse to look for Misty, set off toward the river.

"Good," May thought, "I've got them alone together. Maybe something will happen."

Misty was thinking about going back to camp when she heard footsteps coming toward her. She turned to see Ash, and smiled as he sat next to her.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked.

"Nothing in particular. Hey Ash, do you remember this place?"

Ash had to think about it for a minute, but he finally recalled it.

"This is where we first met, isn't it?"

"Yeah. You still haven't paid me back for my bike, you know."

"Let's not go there!" Ash laughed.

He knew she was feeling better if she was joking around, and he was glad. But he couldn't help but notice that Misty looked sad. She looked as if she had been crying, and he wondered what was bothering her. He would have loved to comfort her with a hug, but it would have only embarrassed her. She would never feel the same way about him as he did her. She already had someone. Kind of. She had said that it was unrequited. The expression that had been on her face when she said that was much like the one she was wearing now. Suddenly, Ash knew what was bothering Misty. It was that guy. It had to be. What else could make her so sad? But why did she care about him so much if he hurt her so much? Ash didn't understand that part at all. Maybe . . . maybe he stood a chance against this guy after all. Maybe he could make her happy again, and she would forget about that jerk. The tension was killing him. He had to know how much Misty loved that other guy and if he could ever win her.

So even though he knew it was forbidden territory, Ash ventured out and just asked her. Sort of.

"Misty," he said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them, "that guy you like– what is he like?"

He expected a slap across the face, but it didn't come. Instead Misty smiled to herself and stared dreamily into space.

"Well . . ." she began, "he's really dense . . . and stubborn . . . and sometimes he gets really full of himself."

It may have seemed like a good sign, but Ash knew that it wasn't. Misty said these things with such affection, they almost sounded like compliments. And she wasn't finished yet.

"But he's also really kind, and brave, and strong. I think I love everything about him."

It was then that Ash knew he would never have Misty. She was more beautiful than Ash had ever seen her when she spoke of whoever it was– her eyes shone full of love, and a gentle smile played upon her lips. She really loved this guy; there would never be anyone else for her.

"But it doesn't matter how I feel about him." Misty continued. "Because he'll never feel the same way."

She laid down on the river bank, her happy expression having faded. Later, she wondered why she had told Ash all that stuff. But at that time, she was so frustrated, and so tired of hiding it, that it just didn't seem to matter anymore.

Ash laid down too, sad, but hoping it would work out for Misty. It hurt him to see her so depressed. He knew that he loved her, but more than anything, he wanted her to be happy, even if it meant she was with someone else.

"Hey Misty?" He said quietly.

But she had fallen asleep. Ash didn't want to wake her, so he lay there thinking until he too fell asleep.

May was climbing into her sleeping bag, and Brock was putting out the last embers of the campfire.

Brock was starting to wonder where Ash and Misty had gone.

"May, don't you think we should go get them? It's past eleven already."

"No!" May replied, a little too enthusiastically. "I mean, no, I'm sure they're fine."

"Yeah, but it's almost time for bed. What could they be doing out there?"

"Hmm . . ." May hummed dreamily, imagining what could possibly be happening.

"_I love you, Misty!" Ash cried as he embraced Misty tightly._

"_Oh, I love you too, Ash!"_

_Then Ash and Misty shared a passionate kiss, a perfect expression of their undying love._

"_I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out. I would never have realized it if it hadn't been for May!" Said Ash._

_They returned holding hands, staring lovingly into each others' eyes._

"_Thank-you so much, May!" Misty gushed. "Without you, Ash and I wouldn't be together right now." _

"May. Uh, May? Earth to May!" Brock yelled.

He wasn't exactly sure what May was thinking about, but he knew that dreamy, starry-eyed expression. It had to be something about love.

"Huh? Oh, sorry." She said, finally snapping out of it. "I was just thinking about Ash and Misty."

Brock could kind of see where this was going, but he asked "What about them?" anyway.

May looked over at Max, not wanting him to hear, but she continued when she found him absorbed in a book, totally oblivious to his surroundings.

"Just about how they're always fighting and stuff. What's with them, anyway? It's obvious that they're totally in love with one another."

"Well, Misty's always been in love with Ash, but she's too afraid to admit it, so she picks on him so no one will guess it. And Ash? He feels something, but he's pretty sure he's just hungry. Of course, I don't know for sure, but from what I've seen . . ."

"That's so sad."

"Yeah. Reminds me of a couple of coordinators I know."

"Hey! This is about Ash and Misty, remember? Someone ought to do something about it." May said, thinking of her good deed.

"You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you?"

"It depends. What do you think I'm thinking?"

"You're not going to try to set Ash and Misty up, are you?"

"Maybe. So?"

"You shouldn't do that, May."

"Why not?"

"Someone could get hurt, and it could be you. If they find out what you're trying to do, it could get ugly._"_

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I sure hope you're right."Brock muttered.

"Wake up, sleepyheads!" May laughed cheerfully.

"Wha . . . May!" Ash jumped.

"What's going on?" Misty yawned as she woke up.

"That's what I'd like to know." Teased Brock.

"What do you mean by that!" Ash yelled.

"Oh, nothing, nothing."

Ash glared angrily at Brock and May, both of whom were still laughing. He couldn't believe that he'd let himself sleep beside Misty all night on the river bank. Could it look anymore suspicious?

But it was forgotten as soon as they were back on the road to Pallet. At least, that particular incident was.

"So, did you tell her yet?" May bugged.

"Tell who what?" Ash replied, not joking at all.

"Tell Misty you love her, what do you think!"

"Oh, that. No."

May could not believe it. He'd had the perfect opportunity the night before, and he still hadn't made his move. As a reward for his stupidity, she punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Ash cried.

Misty saw this, and she did not like it at all. For some reason, could not stand to see another girl tease Ash like that. Even she wasn't quite sure why, but it was a pretty simple feeling. By teasing Ash, Misty demonstrated the closeness of their friendship. When she teased him, she was telling him that she felt comfortable around him. Had they not been close, she might have worried about hurting his feelings. When he let her tease him, he was telling her that he didn't mind because she was his friend, and he knew she wasn't serious. Someone else might not get away with something like that. So when Misty saw May hit Ash, it rekindled her fears. She desperately clung to the hope that it was only a crush.

An hour later, the group finally arrived in Pallet.

"Whew!" May sighed. "I can't believe we finally made it!"

She admired Ash's home as they walked up the dirt path to the door. The two story house was painted white with a red-tiled roof. There was a small garden in front which was surrounded by a white picket fence. A picture perfect scene.

Sweeping the doorstep was a chubby clown Pokemon.

"Mime!" It called, and waved when it saw Ash and the others.

"Hey, Mr. Mime!" Ash called back.

Then a pretty woman emerged from the house wearing a pink top over a yellow shirt and a dark blue skirt. Her auburn hair was tied neatly into a ponytail. May knew without being told that this was Ash's mother, Delia.

"Hi, Sweetie!" She yelled as she ran toward Ash.

She grabbed him up in a big bear hug saying "Oh, it's so good to have you home again! I missed you so much, and I worried about you every day!"

Ash flailed his arms about in a desperate attempt to free himself.

"It's not that I'm not glad to see you, Mom," he said, "but I can't breathe!"

"Oh, I'm sorry Ash." Delia said, releasing him. "I guess I got a little over excited."

Everyone sweat-dropped, but they thought it was sweet nonetheless.

Turning from Ash, Delia greeted Pikachu, then Misty and Brock, and then Ash introduced her to May and Max. Once they had said their pleasantries, everyone went inside the house, which was just as charming as the outside.

The red sofa sat in front of a coffee table and TV on a white carpet. The walls were also white, and there was a fireplace, a lamp, and a couple of chairs that matched the sofa. Everything was cheery and bright with the light shining in through the two windows. It was a very welcoming place.

They were all very tired from their journey, so the first thing they did was take a short nap. Ash showed Misty, Brock, May, and Max their rooms, and then he went to his own room.

Misty and May ended up sharing the two bunk beds in one of the plain guestrooms.

"Hey Misty?" May whispered.

"Yeah?"

"How do you feel about Ash?"

Misty was a bit taken aback. May was her rival, yet she wanted to make sure that Misty was ok with it before she told Ash how she felt. Now Misty felt more guilty than ever for being angry with her. The best thing would have been to tell the truth, but Misty was too embarrassed too guilty to do that.

"What do you mean?" She said innocently.

"I mean, do you like him? As more than just a friend?"

"No, of course not. We're just good friends."

Misty expected May to say something like "Good." but all she said was "Oh."

"Why do you ask?" Misty said. She knew the reason, but she wanted to hear it from May herself.

"Well, I think Ash really likes you, Misty."

This almost made Misty feel sorry for May because she knew how hard it was to be rejected by him. So Misty just laughed it off to make her feel better. She knew that Ash would never love her, but why should May suffer too? It wasn't her fault.

"I don't think so." Misty said, trying to disguise the sorrow in her voice. "Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" May thought. "What does that mean?" But it sounded like Misty really didn't want to talk about it, so she said nothing more and fell asleep.

An hour later, Delia stood in the kitchen making hamburgers for lunch. Ash was in his room unpacking, and Misty sat in the den with Brock and Max watching TV, but too melancholy to pay much attention to it.

"Perfect. Now I've got him cornered!" May thought as she headed up the stairs.

She caught Ash just as he was putting away his . . . unmentionables. May noted the features of the room: blue carpet, blue walls, bunk beds with blue quilts covered in a Pokeball pattern, a dresser, a TV, and various Pokemon dolls and collectibles. Yes, this was definitely Ash's room.

"Ah! May, I didn't see you there!"

He blushed when he saw her and quickly shut his drawer.

May, however, was unfazed.

"Ash, we need to have a talk."

"Ok, what about?"

"When are you going to tell Misty that you love her?"

"Would you leave me alone about that?" Ash said, becoming irritated.

"If I did, you'd never do it. So when are you gonna do it?"

"I don't know! It's not that easy, you know! I can't just go up to her and say 'Hey, guess what, I love you.'"

"Why not?"

"Because she'd think I was an idiot!"

"Well you don't have to say it like that."

"I don't have to say it at all."

"Yes, you do."

"Why do I?"

"Because she'll never know if you don't tell her."

"Good."

"What do you mean, good?"

Ash suddenly realized that he'd said too much, but it was too late now.

"May, Misty already loves someone else."

"Did she tell you that?" May asked, now feeling bad for Ash.

"Yes."

"Well . . . you should tell her anyway. Maybe she only thinks she loves someone else. I'm sure it's not serious."

"Yeah it is. I've heard her talking about him. She's really in love with whoever it is."

"But you can't just give up!"

"It's ok, as long as Misty is happy."

"No, it's not! He won't love her the way you do!"

"How do you know?"

"Because I've seen you two together! And I can't believe that she loves someone else. That can't be right!"

May was getting more and more frustrated. She stood with her fists clenched, deep in thought. If only Ash would just tell Misty, then it was sure to work out. There was absolutely no way Misty could truly love anyone other than Ash. May wondered how she could get Ash to tell her.

"Maybe if he could just rehearse it a couple of times, he would work up the nerve to do it." May thought.

"That's it!" She exclaimed suddenly.

"What's it?"

"I think your problem is that you're just too afraid. Why don't you rehearse it with me a couple of times?"

"What!"

"You know, I'll pretend to be Misty, and you think of what you wanna say."

"No way! There is no way I'm doing that!"

"You'll do it or else!" May said, seeming three times her normal size.

"Ok, ok, just calm down!" Ash said, sweat-dropping.

He could tell May was not going to back down on this one, so he finally relented.

"Ok, um, Misty, there's something I need to tell you."

"Yeah, what is it?" May responded in her sweetest voice.

"Well, it's just that, um, I . . . I think, I mean, you . . . er . . ."

"Just relax, Ash. Say what you feel!"

So Ash tried his best to do so. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, calling to mind everything he loved about Misty. He forgot about May standing there and just spoke from the heart.

"Ok, here goes. Misty, we're best friends, right? I mean, you've always been there for me when I needed you, and sometimes even when I didn't want you to be . . ."

"Misty," Delia said, "can you go tell Ash and May that lunch is ready?"

"Sure." Misty replied.

She didn't feel like seeing either Ash or May, but she pushed herself off the sofa and headed up the stairs.

". . . and I don't think I've ever told you this, but I'm really grateful for all you've done for me. Misty, it makes me happy to know that you care about me. And there's something that I have to tell you. I've always known that you were special to me, but I never knew why. But I finally figured it out. It's because . . . I love you."

"Ah!"

Ash turned when he heard a small gasp. Misty. She had heard. And her face was full of grief. Just as Ash had feared, she didn't feel the same way.

"Sorry . . . I didn't mean to . . . I didn't know . . ." But she didn't finish what she was going to say. Instead, she turned and fled from the scene, crying. Ash was beyond mortified, but he couldn't just let her go like that. He had to apologize for what he had done. He had to try to save their friendship, if that was possible, so he followed her out the door.

Misty ran as fast as she could, down the stairs, out the door, and up the dirt road. She could not let Ash see her cry like that, because then he would know how she felt. He would know that he had broken her heart when he told May that he loved her. This was definitely not a crush. Ash would not just throw around a word like "love". Her only hope was dashed, and it was more painful than she could have imagined.

"Misty, wait!" She heard him call, but she didn't stop.

Ash tried as hard as he could to catch up with Misty, but she was too far ahead of him. Suddenly, he saw her trip and fall to the ground.

"Misty!" He called to her. "Are you ok?"

Misty wanted to run as far away as she could, but it was pointless now. Ash was already upon her.

"Are you ok?" He asked again as he knelt beside her on the ground.

Misty was definitely not ok, but she tried her best to gain her composure.

She smiled through her tears, even knowing that she couldn't hide her pain, and nodded.

"Misty, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I just–"

"Don't apologize, Ash." Misty said carefully. "Why should you? It's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything."

And now Ash was totally confused.

"Huh?"

There was no point in hiding it anymore. He already knew. How could he not?

"I mean, I know you really like May, so I'm happy for you." Misty giggled nervously.

"Wait, you think I like May?"

"Well, duh. I just heard you told her that you love her."

"Wait, it's not what you think! You've got it all wrong!"

"It's ok Ash, you don't have to lie about it. I'll be ok, really." Her eyes betrayed her facade, but she continued anyway.

"Why shouldn't you like May? She's pretty, she's nice, she's . . ."

"She's not you, Misty."

Misty totally baffled. It was one thing for Ash to deny his love for May, but to say something like that? He wouldn't do that, would he?

"What?"

Ash was so happy then. He knew that he hadn't ruined their friendship after all, and best of all, she felt the same way.

"Misty, I love you, and even if there was a girl prettier or nicer or smarter than you, she could never replace you. I'm just sorry it took me so long to figure it all out."

"But . . . I don't understand. I just heard you tell May that you love her."

Ash couldn't help laughing at Misty's bewilderment. It was so cute!

"Misty, she was making me practice what I was going to say to you!"

"So then . . . you love me?"

"Yes, I do."

Misty felt like she was flying. This was the one moment she had waited for ever since she had met Ash. The moment she had dared not hoped for. The happiest moment of her life. Ash loved her, not May, not anyone else, her. This was her most wonderful dream come true.

"Oh Ash!" She cried. "I've always loved you!"

"So why didn't you just tell me."

"The same reason you never told me."

"Oh yeah . . . I'm sorry it took me so long to figure out. But there's still one thing I don't get."

"What's that?"

"What about that guy? The one you were so in love with?"

"Ash, you Slowpoke, I was talking about you!"

"You were? Hey, wait a minute, you called me dense!"

"You are dense, Ash!"

And then she threw her arms around Ash and sobbed into his shoulder relief from all the years of frustration and silent suffering. Ash returned her hug and held her tight, comforting her as best he could. They were completely and blissfully happy.

"What's going on, May!" Brock shouted as he, May, Max, and Delia ran out the door.

"No time to explain!" May called back.

She couldn't believe this had happened. Misty had gotten the whole thing totally backward, and it was all her fault. Hadn't Brock warned her about this? She had to set things right. She couldn't let Ash and Misty's relationship suffer because of her own stupidity. She had to tell Misty what had really happened and apologize.

But from the looks of things, that wouldn't be necessary. There were Ash and Misty, sitting on the dirt path, wrapped in each others' arms.

Delia just smiled. Ash was her son, so naturally, she had known right from the start how Ash felt about Misty.

But Max looked awfully confused. Even if he had a girlfriend himself, he did not completely understand what had happened.

"What just happened!" Brock asked May.

"I told you I'd get them together." She shot back.

And in a way, she had.

"Come on you guys." She continued. "I think they need a little time alone."

So everyone followed May's lead and turned back toward the house, but May couldn't help but steal one last glance at the couple.

"I knew it!" She thought.

And then she joined the rest of the group, leaving Ash and Misty to each other in pure bliss.

_Notes:_

_Italics May's imagination_

_Ok, just so you know, this is NOT the last chapter. I still have ONE MORE CHAPTER to go!_

_Ri2: Oh yeah, stupid spell check. I thought I went back and fixed that! Guess I missed a couple. Thanks for telling me. Hm, it' s really a matter of opinion. I don't mind you saying so though, of course. Hope you liked the confession!_

_Funkyafroman: Wow, thanks! And I really appreciate all your reviews!_

_Gigi: Thank-you very much! I'm glad you're enjoying it!_

_Warlordess: Oh, that's ok. Not your fault. Sorry for taking so long with chapter 8. I decided to go much faster on chapter 9, lol. Hope you liked it!_

_Chaos-Paladin: Thanks! You got me! Actually, I thought of that a little when I wrote it, but I just thought that maybe it's a special feature. Unless he's actually used it as a phone on the show. I wouldn't know, I haven't watched it since they took Misty off. Too depressing._

_Specail Agent Black Storm: Lol, glad you like it! And thanks for reviewing! Thanks for reading for so long!_

_Story Weaver1: Glad you liked the suspense I put in. I thought it was kinda predictable myself, but maybe that's just because I wrote it. Thanks!_

_litto-passion: I'm glad you like it so much! Don't worry, your stuff is fine. My stuff isn't actually all that creative. Like the poison thing is way over-used, so I just added a little something. Anyway, thanks for always reviewing._

_Marlex: Wow, those are some pretty nice things you said! Thank-you very much! I'm glad you like my writing style as well as the aaml. And the character development. Sometimes it gets hard to keep building it up. Thanks for reviewing!_

_Slash: Glad you think it's cute. That's just how I wanted it to be. And I'm also glad you liked the Max/Misty thing. I hadn't originally planned to go so far with it, but I'm glad I did now._

_Soft Flame Matthias: Hm, there may well be some fore-shadowing. I'm glad you liked the thing with Team Rocket. I agree with you(duh). I especially loved the Blissey episode. Yeah, I'm bad about that. I tried to get this one up sooner. Thanks, I'm trying! Oh, and I meant to review your fic, but when I went looking for it, I found out it'd been taken down. I'll make sure I review as soon as it gets reposted. Sorry it took me so long!_

_Sensational Sista: Thanks for reviewing! I've read some of your stuff too, and it's really good! But anyway, I hope you liked the confession scene. Thanks again! _


	10. Love Is Confusing

Chapter 10

Love Is Confusing _I hope I didn't take too long with this one. It's kinda short, but I just needed to do a couple of things. It's the last chapter, but I'm glad. I've been dying to start a new fic. The next one will be called "Kokoro no Doborou". Look for it soon!_

Misty woke up to a dream that morning. She still couldn't believe what had happened the night before. Ash had actually told her that he loved her. And the best part was, it wasn't a dream! Misty felt so full of happiness and energy she felt she would burst. But it was a good feeling that she never wanted it to go away. But there was another feeling too, one she couldn't name. For three whole years, she had dreamed of the day Ash would tell her he loved her. The thing was, she had never given any thought to what would happen after that. Misty had no idea how she was supposed to act now that Ash was hers. How did other people act when they were in love? There was holding hands, and hugging, and whispering sweet nothings to each other, and . . . kissing. She knew that she'd have to work her way up to that last one, but it was a standard to go by nonetheless. Misty decided to put her plan into action the first chance she got.

Ash was not nearly excited about the whole thing as Misty was. It wasn't that he didn't feel the same way, because he did, but he was afraid things would change now that they were going out. What if she started acting all weird? What if she tried to . . . kiss him? It was unthinkable! But maybe she wouldn't. Maybe things would be exactly like they had always been. Maybe he was worried about nothing. Ash hoped for the best as he got ready for the day and headed downstairs for breakfast.

When she saw Ash coming down the stairs, Misty immediately got a lump in her stomach. She was mostly nervous about how he would react to her new romantic behavior, but she had to admit that she was a little excited too. Brock, May, and Max had already taken their seats at the round wooden table, making sure that Ash and Misty ended up sitting together.

May could not wait to begin. She started in as soon as good-mornings had been exchanged.

"So, where did you two go last night?" She said.

"Yeah," Brock joined in, "you were gone for a whole hour!"

"It wasn't that long!" Ash retorted.

He was already embarrassed, and was starting to get irritated. They knew exactly what had happened the night before. Why did they have to tease him like that?

"Don't be embarrassed, Dear," Delia said as she set down a plate of pancakes on the table, "I think it's sweet!"

"Great, now I'm sweet." Ash thought bitterly.

Misty wasn't sure how to feel about the teasing. There was nothing to hide anymore, so why should it matter? But it seemed to be making Ash uncomfortable. And She certainly didn't want him to end their relationship just because he was embarrassed about it, so she glared at Brock and May viciously. They wisely gave up on their jokes after that.

But what she did next was even worse for Ash than the teasing. Gathering up all her courage, Misty grabbed her opportunity . . . and Ash's hand.

Ash jumped in surprise when he felt Misty's hand clasp his own. He glanced at her nervously out of the corner of his eye to see if he could tell from her expression what she was thinking, but she was deliberately averting her gaze, too nervous to even look at Ash. He was just glad that she had done it under the table, hidden from their mocking friends. Finally she had to let go so they could eat. But Ash wasn't very hungry after that. He was too worried that this was a sign of things to come.

"Hey, Professor!" Ash called out as the group approached a large farmhouse.

Professor Oak, who was feeding the Pokemon in his enormous yard, waved back at Ash.

"Hello!" He said as Ash and the others reached the white picket fence. "How have you been?"

"Great! Did you see me in the Hoenn League?"

"Of course, Ash. Fourth place is excellent, you should be very proud!"

"Don't encourage him!" Misty remarked from behind. "It'll make his inflated ego even bigger."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean!"

"I see things are still the same here!" A green haired boy interjected. He stood up from where he had been sitting while drawing a Nidorina, and brushed his hands off on his green shirt.

"Hi, Tracey, long time no see!" Ash greeted.

"Hi guys! What are you doing here?"

"Just taking a break before the next League comes up. Oh, you guys remember May and Max, right?"

"Of course!"

"Yes," Professor Oak said, "it's nice to see you both again."

"Nice to see you too, Professor." Max said, suddenly getting big-eyed. "Especially after reading your article on the bioluminescence of Illumise and Volbeat. I thought it was genius! But I had a few questions I was wondering if you could answer."

"Sure. It's always inspiring to hear that people are actually affected by my work. I would be glad to answer any questions you have."

Ash could see how this was going to go. They would be talking scientific nonsense for hours.

"But first," he said quickly, "can I see my Pokemon?"

"Follow me!" Tracey answered. "We were about to feed them anyway."

So the group followed Tracey through the grass with Max and Professor Oak heading up the back, lost in a complex conversation.

After a minute, Tracey stopped and called out "Come on out guys! Ash is here to see you!"

Rustling was heard as Bulbasaur emerged from some shrubbery with Bayleef following not far behind. Bayleef abandoned all self-control at seeing Ash and made a mad dash toward him.

"Bayleef! No, stop!" Ash called frantically.

But Bayleef did not stop. It knocked Ash to the ground in an effort to hug him, happily singing to itself and totally ignorant of Ash's pain.

But Ash did not really mind.

"It's great to see you too, Bayleef!" He said, petting Bayleef's head.

They were joined by Bulbasaur, and soon Noctowl, Totodile, Cyndaquil, Muk, and all the others, and packed around Ash as if he were a celebrity or something.

Misty smiled to herself as she watched Ash let himself be tackled to the ground again, this time by Muk. It was funny, before she had met Ash, Misty had always dreamed of falling in love with a tall, handsome prince. Someone who would sweep her off her feet and treat her like his princess. So how did she end up with Ash? Ash, who was not interested in the least about romance or love or any of that "mushy stuff". Ash, who teased her about her looks, and her training abilities, and her personality every chance he got. Ash, egotistical, naive, and childish had completely stolen her heart. Sometimes even Misty herself did not understand it. But right now, in this moment, she could see it in his eyes. They reflected his emotions so clearly, the way he loved his Pokemon; he treated them all as if there were the only one. And now she was getting to experience that love for herself. Misty could not wait for this to begin.

All the Pokemon on Professor Oak's reserve had now been fed, and most of them had fallen into a satisfied slumber.

"What do we do now?" May asked Professor Oak politely.

"Oh, there's not too much to do at this time of day. It's always quiet right after the Pokemon finish eating, so that's when I get my reading and writing done. But that's no fun for you kids. Why don't you head into town and find something more entertaining?"

"There's this movie I've been dying to see called 'The Pokemon Painter'!" Tracey announced. "It's based on the life of the great Pokemon artist Paulo Pizzaro! I'm a huge fan of his work!"

"Wait a minute," Brock interrupted, "I think I've heard of that movie before! It has Roberta Juliano in it! She's my favorite actress of all time!"

"They're all your favorite, Brock." Misty said sarcastically.

"I can't help it! How can you expect a mere mortal like me to name the most beautiful star on the silver screen?" Brock said as everyone sweat-dropped.

"I'll show you stars!" Misty threatened.

May laughed, but she was thinking of other things.

"Hm . . . movies equal dark. Perfect setting for a little romance!"

Ash and Misty were already together, but she was going to make sure they stayed together.

"Ok!" She yelled. "Movies it is!"

After dragging Brock away from the girl in the ticket booth, the girl at the concession stand, and the girl taking tickets, the group finally made its way into the theater. May immediately noticed four seats right together and quickly grabbed them for herself, Brock, Tracey, and Max.

"Um, May, why don't we move back there so we can all sit together?" Ash asked, pointing to a row farther back.

"Oh, we would, but . . . Max is as blind as a Zubat, even with his glasses, and he won't be able to see if we move up there."

"What are you talking about?" Max said indignantly. "I can see just fine!"

"No need to be shy about it, Max!" May giggled, clapping her hand over his mouth. "Ash doesn't mind, do you Ash?"

"No, of course not."

May winked at Misty who was following Ash up the aisle.

And that's how Ash and Misty ended up sitting together for the second time that day.

"Gosh, I never knew Max had such bad vision." Ash said, completely serious.

Misty face-faulted in her seat at this display of density.

"What?" Ash asked innocently.

"It's nothing, Ash. Don't worry about it."

Ash was still confused, but he didn't have time to ask about it again because the movie was starting. Unfortunately for him, it was in Italian. Subtitled, of course, but still confusing.

Misty however, was not really concerned about the movie. Here she was- alone with Ash, in the dark. Now what? She'd never been on a date before, at least, not a real date. How was she supposed to know what to do? Misty had always assumed that she would just know when the time came, but that wasn't happening. Maybe it just wasn't the right moment though. She'd know then, right? So for the moment, she tried to ignore her nervousness and enjoy the movie.

"_No, Paulo! I will never leave you! I know I can never compete your with art, but it is enough for me just to be with you!"_

Roberta said. Or rather, the screen said. What she was saying was incomprehensible to those in the theater. But the language barrier did not seem to deter Brock.

"No, Roberta!" He called. "Can't you see that you belong with me!"

"Quiet down there!" Someone called from behind, hitting Brock with a half-full box of popcorn. But did not seem bothered by this. He simply sat back in his seat and started munching on the remains of the popcorn in the box that had been thrown at him.

All the noise woke Misty up. She hadn't even realized that she had fallen asleep!

"How could I have fallen asleep!" She thought. "I'm missing my chance!"

From what she could tell, there was something romantic going on in the movie. It was now or never. So carefully, very carefully, she laid her head on Ash's shoulder and grabbed his hand again.

Ash was glad it was dark in the theater because no one could see how red he was turning. He didn't dare look at Misty. Eye contact was to be avoided at all costs. That might encourage her. What was he going to do? He didn't want to hurt Misty's feelings, but he also didn't want her hanging all over him like that either. In the end, he decided to just deal with it. It was only another thirty minutes anyway. But he didn't think about what would happen when the lights came back on.

"Aww, isn't that cute?" He heard one girl woman say.

"Hey, look at those two!" Said another. "Why aren't you ever sweet to me like that?"

Ash just wanted to disappear.

But Misty was too concerned about what Ash was thinking to notice what anyone else thought. When he got up and mumbled something about getting something to drink, she knew that he was mad at her. He wouldn't even look at her!

"I'm blowing it!" Misty thought sadly.

Ash met Brock at the concession stand, where he was accosting the girl at the counter again. He apologized to the girl, who looked very confused, dragged Brock off.

"Brock, I need your help!" He said. "Misty's been acting really strange. You know about girls, right?"

Of course, Ash knew that Brock did not have the best date track record, but he was the only one whom he could talk to. May was a girl herself, she loved all that mushy stuff. Max was too young, and Tracey was sort of oblivious to these things.

"What do you mean?" Brock asked, suddenly over his latest "true love".

"She's been acting all . . . mushy!"

"Call me crazy Ash, but isn't that how you're supposed to act when you're going out with someone?"

"I guess, but it's so weird! I mean, it's Misty we're talking about!"

It didn't take Brock long to think about the situation.

"You should tell Misty how you feel." He said sternly.

"I can't do that! It would hurt her feelings!"

"Well, I don't know what else to tell you. You should do something about it soon though, or it's just gonna get harder."

"Why does love have to be so confusing!"

Ash knew Brock was right. It wasn't just that he was embarrassed. Misty had been his best friend for years. He could always go to her if he needed to talk, but now he got nervous every time he saw her. It was like he didn't even want to be with her anymore. She made him really uncomfortable. So Ash decided that this had to end. Love was not worth sacrificing his friendship with Misty. It was not going to be easy though. She was sure to get hurt, but there was no way around it. Still, he couldn't find the words even though he thought about it all the way home. So finally, he decided that he just had to say it.

Ash caught Misty alone in her room that evening.

"Misty, I need to talk to you about something." He said seriously.

"Oh. Ok Ash. Why don't we take a walk?"

Misty knew what was coming. And even though she tried not to show it, it was killing her. She couldn't believe what she had done. She had everything she wanted, and then she ruined it. She knew she couldn't stand to hear it.

"It's ok, Ash," she interrupted as Ash started, "I know what you're going to say."

Ash stared at the dirt path they were walking on.

"I'm sorry, Misty." He said, as kindly as he possibly could. "It's just that this whole dating thing isn't working out for me. I'm really sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault if you don't feel that way about me."

"Misty . . ."

"I just wish you had never lied and said you love me when you don't. I know that you were just didn't want to hurt me, but it hurts a lot more now than it would have, you know?"

She looked like she was going to cry again, and it made Ash really hate himself.

"Oh please," he thought, "yell at me, hit me, just don't cry!"

But then he realized that there was something wrong with what she had said.

"I just wish you had never lied and said you loved me when you don't."

"But it wasn't a lie."

"Huh? I don't understand."

"Misty, I meant it when I told you that I . . . well, you know. But this is just too weird. I don't know how to be romantic or sweet, and when you act like that, it makes me feel really awkward! I used to be able to talk to you about anything, but now it makes me nervous just being with you. I do love you Misty, but I don't want to risk our friendship over this. You're too important to me. Maybe when I'm older, I'll be ready to have a girlfriend. And I know that when I am, it has to be you. I understand if you don't wanna wait for me, but if you can . . ."

Misty wiped away a tear from her eye and smiled. Ash had no idea, but Misty thought that what he had just said was the most romantic thing she had ever heard.

"Is that all?" She asked. Then she tried to turn serious. "Ash, I would wait forever for you,

but . . ."

"I understand, Misty. I'm sorry." Ash said, his heart sinking.

" . . . I don't have to."

Now it was Ash who was confused.

"What?"

"Ash, you should have just told me how you were feeling!"(Ash couldn't believe that Brock had actually been right about this.) "Actually, it was pretty weird for me too. I don't care if you're no good at being romantic. I love you because you're you, so just be yourself! It's enough just knowing that you love me. And no matter what happens, you'll always be my friend first."

"So I was worried about nothing? But why were you acting like that if it embarrassed you too?"

"I just thought that was what I was supposed to be. Sorry I freaked you out like that. I should've known that you were too immature."

"Hey! I'm not immature!"

Misty laughed at the immaturity Ash was showing right now. She hoped he never changed.

"Come on, we should get back. May will start getting weird thoughts again."

For now, they decided to let romance take a back seat to their friendship. Romance was a big change, and neither of them were ready for it. That would come soon enough. But as they made their way back to the house, Ash nervously took Misty's hand. They looked at each other and exchanged blushes and giggled, both embarrassed. But at least now they were embarrassed together. When they finally got home, things went back to normal, and they were already fighting again over some trivial matter. But it was a step forward, even if it was a small one, and slowly, slowly, maybe romance would become normal. But who really knows? Love is confusing!

_Notes:_

_Ok, it was kinda an anticlimax. But I just really can't see Ash being romantic, so I decided that it was best. Hope you liked it anyway!_

_Warlordess: Ok, where to start? Well, I don't really know too much about May's personality because I haven't watched the show since I found out they were going to take Misty off, so I'll just trust you. I took off the part where she's going on about how romantic it is, but I left on some of the other stuff since I've heard that she is a romantic. Your idea is fine, but I think Misty has the "it's too good to be true" complex and wouldn't suspect anything. I almost didn't have May help out because it looks a little like Advanceshipping, but I like how it turned out anyway. And thanks for pointing that out about her name. I can't believe I left that in there. Just glad I fixed it before too many people saw it. I know, but it did kinda seem like I was wrapping things up. Plus someone at Serebii asked me if chapter 8 was the last chapter, so you never know what people will think, lol. Glad you liked it, despite its short comings._

_Sensational Sista: Glad you liked it. I worried about it because it's so hard to get Ash in character with a confession. In a lot fics, I don't really like how it's done._ _Thanks for saying you liked the plot! I hope it isn't too cliched._

_psheartslie: I didn't think I took very long with this one myself . . . but I'm glad you want to have the next chapter immediately, lol. Thanks for mentioning that you didn't see any grammar errors. That must mean I got them all out. Oh, your welcome. Can't wait to see what you've got planned next either!_

_Funkyafroman: Thank-you! Yeah, Misty likes to think she knows what's going on, lol. Hope you liked chapter 10 too!_

_Marlex: Thanks! Yeah, I felt like the story was too incoherent, and I wanted a little continuity to the last chapters. And I'm glad you think I got my emotions across well. And thanks for saying the confession was sweet. Hope you liked the last chapter!_

_Bottled: Yeah, hopefully he'll figure it out in the show as well. But I know, it's so frickin' obvious. Frustrating, isn't it? Well, anyway, I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the review!_

_litto-passionfruit: Wow, I'm really glad you liked it so much! Thanks for your enthusiasm. And don't worry, I've got more stuff planned. I hope you'll read my next fic too!_

_Special Agent Black Storm: Thanks! Max? You mean Misty? Or from a couple of chapters back? Oh well, whatever, thanks for the review! I need some sugar too . . . anyway, thanks again!_

_Story Weaver1: I'm glad you liked that part, I was afraid it had been used in too many other fics. I like Contestshipping, so I thought I'd throw in a line about it here and there. Glad you thought it was funny too. Thanks!_

_Leonardo Cascadan: That is a huge compliment. I'm glad my writing was good enough that I could make a non-Pokeshipper think it was sweet. Ironically, that's why I write in the first place. I have a friend who thinks it's weird that I'm a Pokeshipper, and I always thought "If she could just see what I see, she wouldn't think it was so weird." Of course, I'd be humiliated if she ever read this, lol. But anyway, thanks for your review!_

_Babie A: Thanks a lot for your review! Oh, and that's not supposed to be sarcastic. I'm glad you liked it so much! Yeah, it was my longest chapter, I think. Hope it wasn't too long! But anyway, I'm glad you thought it was funny and sweet. That means it came out just how I wanted! Sorry I take so long to update! I'll try to be faster with my next fic. I hope you read it!_


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